Camille. See You At Peelers. Shelliscape. Economy Terror. All champion distaff pacers, all with bankrolls exceeding $1 million. In fact, their lifetime earnings top $5.64 million. Their careers actually overlapped in 2011 and 2012, but they were of different crops and wouldn’t have had the opportunity to compete against each other.
Saturday’s (July 3) $165,257 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for freshman colt and gelding pacers at The Meadows, known as the Albatross, will offer the next-best thing. Sons of those four great distaff performers will clash in the same division — a most unusual occurrence — which goes as race 6. The program also features a $60,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series event for two-year-old male pacers. First post is 12:45 p.m.
Here’s a look at the regally-bred quartet with comments from their trainers:
Wehadababyetzaboy
(Sweet Lou-Camille, post 3, Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.)
A homebred for the Ron Burke stable, this youngster has looked good in two qualifiers at Gaitway Farm. “He’s the first good foal she’s had,” Burke says. “All the others were small. He seems like a really nice horse.”
As for the name, Burke indicates this is the first colt out of Camille after four fillies, and co-owner/breeder Mark Weaver parlayed that with a punch line from an old television commercial having to do with avoiding charges for collect phone calls. Got that?
Threshold
(Sweet Lou-See You At Peelers, post 4, Tim Tetrick)
Mom won the Dan Patch at 2, but trainer Marcus Melander isn’t ready to predict that sort of early greatness for her son. “We were happy with his baby races. He’s a fast horse, but it's a tough group. I think he’ll fit in very well,” Melander says.
Threshold may have added incentive in the Albatross. It was at The Meadows on Aug. 29, 2011, that his dam’s 22-race winning streak — arguably the most notable such streak this century — came to a crashing halt when she finished an exhausted sixth in the Nadia Lobell.
Camouflage Money
(Betting Line-Shelliscape, post 5, Scott Zeron)
Camouflage Money performed well preparing for his debut, but he broke stride in that race at The Meadowlands. Trainer Linda Toscano thinks she has identified and corrected the problem.
“I loved him training down,” Toscano says, “but we’ve hit a few glitches. He jumped over something in his first baby race, came back and qualified real well, and the other night, he jumped again. I think we can fix him, and I think he has a lot of ability.” Toscano has added a shadow roll and is trying to find just the right dimensions for it.
Market Based
(Sweet Lou-Economy Terror, post 7, Dexter Dunn)
He’s a half-brother to One Eight Hundred, who has won six of eight starts this year at three with a mark of 1:48; their mom was a Dan Patch winner at two. Nancy Takter, who conditions the siblings, says Market Based is built to be a fast freshman.
“He’s a very nice colt, and he’s won both his baby races,” she says. “This guy is smaller and quicker than One Eight Hundred. His size allows him to be a little more precocious.”
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)