Royally bred Apex notched a hard-fought win as the second betting choice while Emmas Mystery CCL ripped to victory at long odds in their respective $312,500 New Jersey Sire Stakes finals for trotting two-year-olds, held on the Hambletonian Day undercard on Saturday, Aug. 2 at The Meadowlands.
Apex seized the lead late and kept his head in front to the finish of a career-best 1:53.2 mile to win the New Jersey Sire Stakes final for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings.
Driver Dexter Dunn landed in fourth out of post two with Apex, directly behind 3-5 favourite Diabolic Hill (Andy McCarthy), and bided his time as Ardonne (Scott Zeron) cleared the front in a :28 first quarter. Pocket-sitter Maga Hill (Yannick Gingras) soon tipped outside to challenge and then took over the lead before a :56.4 half, all while Apex pressured Diabolic Hill to flush outside moving for the final turn.
Diabolic Hill obliged out of third and lunged uncovered to blitz Maga Hill to three-quarters in 1:25 with Apex in tow on the turn for home. Dunn fanned off cover in the stretch and overhauled Diabolic Hill in mid-stretch but had more competition coming with Ardonne zipping off a ground-saving trip and after the leader late. Apex reached for the finish and staved off Ardonne by a head while Diabolic Hill settled for third.
Apex, a colt by Walner out of the world champion trotting mare and 2015 Hambletonian runner-up Mission Brief, scored his second win from three starts.
“We’ve spent about $2 million [USD] on Mission Brief’s offspring so far – and this is the [fourth] one we’ve got – and he definitely showed right away that he was the best one,” said winning trainer Marcus Melander. “He had such a bound in his gait and was training down great, but you never really know until you start racing them.”
A $729,167 yearling purchase from the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sale, Apex boosted his earnings to $181,819 for owners Jeffrey Snyder of New York City, New York, S R F Stable of Del Ray Beach, Florida and Steve Stewart of Paris, Kentucky.
He paid $5.40 to win.
Emmas Mystery CCL uncorked a 15-1 upset when tripping out to a career-best 1:53.2 victory of her own in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final for two-year-old trotting fillies.
Driver Andy McCarthy floated out of post nine with Emmas Mystery CCL to race towards the rear of the field and found cover to follow with 3-5 favourite Leading Lady (Yannick Gingras) caught wide through the first turn. Southwind Chaska (Tim Tetrick) emerged with the lead through a :27.3 first quarter but faced a challenge into the backstretch from 60-1 shot Glam (Ake Svanstedt).
Glam grabbed the lead briefly as Southwind Chaska promptly pulled off the cones with the outer tier looming and retook the lead into a :56.2 half. Southwind Chaska braced for further pressure from first-over Days Away (Jason Bartlett) into the far turn while Leading Lady perched second-over and Emmas Mystery CCL coasted along third-over.
Days Away tired from the grind after three-quarters in 1:24.4 as the backfield lifted forward after a game Southwind Chaska in the stretch. Emmas Mystery CCL angled to the centre of the track and kicked with the most momentum to tower past the bunch and slide away to a 1-1/2-length win. Sugar Packet (David Miller) swung wide from a ground-saving trip to take second with Southwind Chaska holding third.
“She didn’t handle the track the last start very good – it was quite deep and she just struggled to get through it,” noted McCarthy in a post-race interview. “I was a lot more confident today with a bit of a tighter track, but I was just letting her tell me what to do. It just worked out where we had a good flowing trip there and she was good enough to overcome it.”
Noel Daley trains Emmas Mystery CCL, a daughter of Muscle Hill out of past Hambletonian Oaks elimination winner Mistery Woman. The filly, a $135,135 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale acquisition, won her second race from three starts, putting her earnings at $177,483 for owner Winning Key of Leechburg, Pennsylvania.
She returned $33.40 for the upset win.
More Hambo Day Undercard Highlights
Hambletonian Day's stakes action started with the Canadian campaigned Lasting Dream ($8.20) and driver Louis-Philippe Roy winning a $41,667 division of the Continentalvictory for three-year-old trotting fillies in a career-best 1:51.4 by 1-3/4 lengths. Getting a pocket trip after the opening turning, Lasting Dream glided by backstretch leader Highlandstarburst (Yannick Gingras) in front the grandstand with Margareta Hanover (Todd McCarthy) closing off the winner's back to take second.
A Cantab Hall-Dream Together homebred for Determination of Montreal, Que., Lasting Dream has earned more than $440,000 in her career and entered the Continentalvictory off a fifth-place finish in the Hambletonian Oaks elimination won by Delaney Hanover.
Three-year-old trotting colts Happy Jack B ($6) and Onajetplane ($3.80) each took new lifetime marks in their respective $69,444 divisions of the Muscle Hill.
Happy Jack B overtook the front-striding favourite Lefties Righties (Dexter Dunn) in deep stretch for a 1:52 triumph by 1-1/4 lengths in a Hambletonian precursor for trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt.
A career winner of nearly $320,000, the son of Chapter Seven out of Exotic Form is owned by B Nasstrom Holding Inc. of Delray Beach, Florida, Wolfgang A Stable of Wrightstown, New Jersey and Joe Sbrocco And Jaf Racing of Staten Island, New York.
Onajetplane delivered as the 4-5 favourite after a fourth-place finish in the Hambletonian elimination won by Super Chapter. The Walner-Noble Lover colt blew by early tempo-setter Top Gun Hanover (Dexter Dunn) turning for home for Andy McCarthy, winning in 1:51 by two lengths, with Go Ahead Makemyday (David Miller) photoing out Hey Porter (Todd McCarthy) for second place.
Trainer Noel Daley shares ownership with Sjoblom Racing and Zei Zei Racing of Delray Beach, Florida and L A Express Stable of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. Onajetplane picked up his sixth stakes win in 16 starts and is just shy of the half-million dollar mark in earnings.
Aetos Kronos S ($2.40) was much the best in the $83,333 Vincennes Preferred Trot, taking a new lifetime mark of 1:50.4. Dexter Dunn put the 1-9 favourite on the lead down the backstretch and he trotted off, with Dire Straights (Braxten Boyd) edging out Little Expensive (Andy Miller) in a place photo 4-3/4 lengths behind.
The nine-year-old stallion by Bold Eagle out of Will Of A Woman has won five of his eight starts this season and $234,658 of his $1.6 million bankroll while racing in North America under the tutelage of trainer Marcus Melander for New York City-based owners Jeffrey and Michael Snyder.
Dexter Dunn led all drivers on the 16-race card with five wins while Marcus Melander led the trainers with a triple.
(Meadowlands Racetrack & Standardbred Canada; photo of Apex winning on Aug. 2)