A field of eight trotters will be competing in the $3,000 RUS MidAtlantic Trot at the Meadowlands Racetrack this Saturday night (Oct. 20).
Post time for the non-wagering racing under saddle event will be at 7:00 p.m., prior to the first wagering event on the card. Four of the eight horses figure to be competing for the major spoils in this ‘miler,’ with a fifth horse providing a little foreign intrigue.
Funny Photo (Sophie Engerran, PP6) heads into the race with a 5-2-3-0 record for the season for owner/trainer/rider Engerran. The nine-year-old altered son of Classic Photo was the winner of the RUS New York Fair Final at Monticello Raceway in early September, where he crossed the line in a 2:02.4 romp. Most recently, Funny Photo has recorded a pair of second-place finishes at Batavia and Saratoga.
A year off from RUS must have been what the doctor ordered for No Recess (Sietske Dijhkof; PP7), as the nine-year-old son of Rich Boy has scored two speedy victories over the upstate New York half-mile ovals. At the end of September, No Recess scored a 2:02.1 victory at Batavia while this past weekend the gelding made an early break yet went on to win by four lengths at Saratoga in 2:02.2. The question is will No Recess be able to take advantage of the mile oval to set a new lifetime mark in victory? Kyle Spagnola is the trainer.
Normally, Hyway Marcus (Sasha Moczulski, PP8) would be the automatic selection on the RUS MidAtlantic circuit, but he will be meeting some speedy types Saturday, so the outcome is far from certain. The seven-year-old Gut Instinct gelding suffered a rare miscue at Saratoga in his last start, as he got caught in close quarters. Marcus was able to recover and get within a length of the leader at the three-quarters, pole but being parked out after the break took its toll and resulted in his tiring to finish third. Despite Post 8, he figures to be in the thick of things for his owner/trainer/driver.
One True Friend (Hillary Hartnett, PP5) heads into the race with a question mark, but can step up and be a factor. The lone mare in the race shows a couple of breaks of late, and in her last start, Hartnett lost her irons at the start of the race, which required the horse to pull up before the finish. Despite that, the mare stayed flat before being pulled up. An early season qualifier of 2:02.1 over a ‘sloppy’ Vernon Downs oval shows ‘Trudy’ belongs in Saturday’s race and can be competitive should she manage to stay out of trouble. Wesley Miller trains ‘OTF’ for owner/rider Hartnett.
A French-bred horse making his American debut under saddle? This will be the case with Atout De Fontaine (Sofia Zingale, PP4), an eight-year-old gelding by Oxford Du Rib – Mistina De Traqui by Quebir De Chenu. ADF came to the United States to take part in the France-America series at Yonkers, but he made it abundantly clear he didn’t care for the American game. However, a 2:05.2 victory in a Rosecroft qualifier for trainer/rider Zingale would suggest a return to the saddle is what is needed for Fontaine, who has a 1:56 mile rate mark in Monté racing in Europe. He will be a wild card in Saturday’s race.
Other starters in the race (from Post 1 out) are Keenan (Maria Buchanan) who will be making his first start under saddle in 2018, and Credit Blues (Stephanie Jacobs), who will be making his first lifetime start off of a 2:06.3 qualifying effort at Ocean Downs in early August. Another first timer is Puddin N Pie (Vanessa Karlewicz), who will be making his debut off of a second-place finish in a Rosecroft qualifier.
(RUS MidAtlantic)