The Meadowlands hosted Breakfast With The Babies, sponsored by Jules Siegel’s Fashion Farm, beginning at 9:00 a.m. under cloudy skies with no wind and the temperature at 75°F. The Saturday qualifying session also served as a different kind of test bed as participants in the Race Announcers Workshop called the morning's action.
While the baby races are winding down, the horses using the qualifiers to get a fast mile in today yielded some useful insight into the next month’s major Grand Circuit stakes.
The great Ramona Hill got a good workout in with a 1:53.1 win for Andy McCarthy. She followed stablemate Hello I Love You through the 1:24.4 three quarters then sailed by under her own power, looking forward to next Saturday’s Hambletonian Maturity for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Brad Grant, Crawford Farms, Robert LeBlanc and John Fodera and Steve Wienick as In The Gym Partners.
Pacing fillies Staycation Hanover (Todd McCarthy) and Fire Start Hanover (Dexter Dunn) went to the wire together in a :27.2 end to the 1:52.4 mile with the former edging he opponent right on the blink. The Mistletoe Shalee is next week for the sophomore girls.
Ake Svanstedt brought the flashy Hambletonian prospect Captain Corey to The Meadowlands this morning and gave him a 1:53 airing out. Alone on top virtually all the way and trotting home in :26.4, the Googoo Gaagaa colt is certainly a head turner and appears to be about where you’d want him going into the first Saturday in August.
Finally, two Jenn Bongiorno trainees, the vaunted Nicholas Beach (B. Sears) and his new stablemate Major Betts (A. McCarthy) went to the wire in tandem in a 27-second end to a 1:49.4 mile with Nicholas declared the winner by the slimmest of margins. That pair appears to be ready for anything.
To view the results from the qualifiers, click the following link: Saturday Results - Meadowlands (Qualifiers)
The first of the 10 two-year-old races was a filly pace where Dexter Dunn had Isntitalovelyday on a long lead throughout and was moving like a winner until right there at the end when Sweet Rock Deo and Jack Pelling rallied from well back to snap Isntitalovelyday right on the wire in 1:54.4. Superbly (T. McCarthy) was third. Brett Pelling trains the winner, a Sweet Lou filly from the great race mare Rocklamation, a $190,000 Lexington purchase by David Mc Duffee from breeders Deo Volente Farm and TLP Stable.
Giza Dreams (Scott Zeron) was a start to finish winner in her very first endeavour, setting comfortable fractions then tacking on a :28.3 end to a mile in 2:01.1. Grandeur (Pat Lachance) rallied but fell just short late to be second. Giza Dreams, by the red-hot Walner, is trained by Hall Of Famer Linda Toscano for Wiseman Farms and Carter Duer is the breeder.
Quick Snap (Dexter Dunn) was a winner at first asking, getting up between horses through a :27.4 end to a 1:55 mile. Layton Hanover (A. McCarthy) rallied just wide of the winner but couldn’t get him while Top Genius (Zeron) held third after cutting the mile. Let It Ride Stable (also the breeder), Bottom Line Racing and MT Pockets Stables own the winner, a Betting Line colt, in partnership with trainer Tony Alagna.
The sharp-looking Nuncio trotting colt Letsdoit S (Sears) took over mid-stretch from Abruzzo (Marcus Miller) then dug in impressively with a :28.1 closer to hold off the late rush of Fast As The Wind (Dunn) for a 1:56.4 win. A Stall TZ homebred, Letsdoit S is trained by Marcus Melander.
Niki Hill (Dunn) impressed in her career debut, converting a nice pocket ride into a 1:54.1 win over pacesetter Captains Princess (A. McCarthy) with Treacherous Dragon (Tim Tetrick) third. The winner, an Always B Miki half-sister to world champion Cattlewash, was a $155,000 Lexington purchase by Tom Hill from breeder Stephen Dey III. Chris Ryder, who trained the great Party Girl Hill for the same connections last season, conditions the winner.
The Ready Cash filly Jeannica S (Mattias Melander), another winner at first asking in 1:59.2. Melander tracked along behind eventual place finisher Intellect Hill (Dunn) through even fractions before tipping off that one at the three-quarter pole and going by courtesy a :29.1 close to the mile. Just Be Awesome (Dave Miller) flashed good late trot while in hand to get up for second. Courant Inc owns the winner, bred in France by Julinus Stable and Marcus Melander is the trainer.
Arsonist (Dunn) led all the way for a 1:54.2 win over Captain Cook (Yannick Gingras) and the late-charging under-a-grip Bounty Hunter (Sears). Arsonist is a Captaintreacherous homebred colt from Candlelight Dinner owned by Let It Ride, Mac Nichol, Howard Taylor and Robert Cooper, trained in the Chris Ryder barn.
Ducasse (Jimmy Takter) got up in the last step to nail Highgate, who had set all the fractions for trainer/driver Greg Peck, in 2:01.3 while Mr Michelon (M. Miller) followed along for third. Ducasse is a Father Patrick colt, bred by Fair Island Farm who retained a piece with partners Brixton Medical, Christina Takter and Hatfield Stables after he went through the Lexington sale for $100,000.
The Captaintreacherous filly Dont Fence Me In had them on their feet at stately Bell Manor in Boynton Beach when Dexter Dunn fanned her off the cover of Yes Indeed (Tetrick) then stormed by on her own for the 1:54.4 win, her individual final fraction in the sub :27 zone. Captiva (T. McCarthy) stayed on for third after cutting the mile. Dont Fence Me In was bred by Myron and Stephanie Bell’s Riverview Breeding and now owned in partnership with Steve Head, Jerry Glantz and trainer Tony Alagna.
Butterfly Face S was in the right place at the right time for trainer/driver/owner Lucas Wallin, taking advantage of Pink Coco Chanel’s late stretch break then fighting off Ladybugs N Bourbon (Dunn) to post a 1:56.1 win. The Swedish-bred Raja Mirchi filly was bred by Lufti Kolgjini and Anna Svensson.
To view the results from the baby races, click the following link: Saturday Results - Meadowlands (Baby Races)
(Meadowlands)