With a few starts under their belts, the season’s two-year-old pacing stars are beginning to emerge from the firmament, and the Nassagaweya Stakes on Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack will give them some time to shine
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The trio of $134,892 contests are the final prep before the year’s richest race for freshman pacers, the $1 million Metro Pace on September 5. And trainers Bob McIntosh, Gregg McNair, and Brenda Teague each have strong contenders in all three divisions on Saturday night.
In the first of the three splits (Race 5, post time 8:50 p.m.), Teague is sending out Fancyfreeshark, a son of Four Starzzz Shark who is undefeated in four career starts. But he’ll have to contend with Dr. Ian Moore’s Malicious, who has been a powerhouse this summer in freshman action, with five wins in five starts including a sweep of the Dream Maker series in July and August.
McIntosh’s Epanephrine, a son of No Pan Intended, has drawn into that tough division, and is currently rated the 4-1 third choice. The colt’s early efforts in qualifiers have been a little erratic, but he pulled it all together on August 16, when he won a $17,000 event for maiden two-year-olds at Mohawk in 1:54.4, with an electrifying :25.4 final panel.
“He was a little lazy to start off, but suddenly he just clicked right in,” says McIntosh. “He really impressed me the other night with that effort. If he performs well in the Nassagaweya we’ll probably point him for the Metro.”
In the second of the three Nassagaweya divisions is McNair’s best shot for a win, the Real Desire son, Brendons Freedom. With just one start under his belt – where he was fifth to McIntosh’s Rock Me Please in a contest which resulted in a 1:52.4 mile, challenging speed indeed for these novices – Brendons Freedom is still untested, but the Alberta-bred colt seems primed for a more mature effort this Saturday. He’s rated at 7-1, while Teague’s entry, Dr Dreamy (a son of Art Major) once again enjoys favourite status. Four wins in four starts, including two-year-old stakes at Pocono Downs, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs, and The Meadows, make this well-travelled youngster a formidable foe.
The third Nassagaweya event features McIntosh’s most impressive prospect, Rock Me Please. By Rocknroll Hanover out of McIntosh’s million-dollar-earning mare, Please Me Please, Rock Me Please is “a big handsome colt, one of my best two-year-olds so far,” he says. “He’s a Metro Pace type of horse for sure.”
Rock Me Please made his debut in a qualifier at Mohawk in June, where he won by five lengths, but the colt then dropped off the radar. McIntosh explains, “We started him early and he was very impressive, but he went a little off in his knees, so we gave him some time off. It worked out well because when he came back, he went in 1:52.4 in his first (pari-mutuel) start.”
Rock Me Please will need his speed, because he’s up against Brenda Teague’s pupil, Delmarvalous, who has been flawless in three career starts including a crushing six-and-a-half length victory in the Arden stakes at the Meadows on August 1. The son of Badlands Hanover also holds a 1:52.4 speed mark at this point in his career, and is the 3-1 third choice in the morning line.
Also not to be trifled with is Casie Coleman’s Sportswriter, an Artsplace son with wicked closing speed. In two lifetime starts and two qualifiers, he has delivered closing fractions under 27 seconds on three occasions, the most recent being a :26.2 final panel in a two-year-old condition event. He’s been rated at 5-2.
With 29 talented freshman colts going postward, the Nassagaweya should prove one of the most exciting events of the summer – and when the dust clears, we may have a much clearer picture of the contenders for the $1 million Metro Pace. Catch the Nassagaweya Stakes on Saturday, carded as Races 5, 9, and 10 (post times 8:50, 10:10, and 10:30 p.m.).
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click here.
(WEG)