The eliminations for this year’s Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace highlighted the Saturday evening program at The Meadowlands, but the undercard was nothing to sneeze
at.
Here's a complete recap of the major events:
$50,000 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace
– Elim #1
Stay Hungry parlayed a sweet, second-over
trip into a career-best clocking of 1:49 for
driver Doug McNair and trainer Tony Alagna. Sent
off as the second choice in the wagering, the
son of Somebeachsomewhere-My Little Dragon
potted his second win of the year for owner Brad
Grant of Milton, Ont.
Hayden Hanover shot to the early lead and had
the field tracking him past the opening quarter
in :27.2. Even-money favourite Nutcracker Sweet
blasted out of the three-hole and rushed to the
lead in the backstretch, and from there he
cruised through middle splits of :55.1 and 1:23.
Ideal Feeling put heat on the leader around the
final turn, but it was Stay Hungry who kicked
off cover with fresh legs and swept to the lead
and the win. Rounding out the top five finishers
in the first elimination were Hayden Hanover,
Thinkbig Dreambig, Nutcracker Sweet and This Is
The Plan.
“(The trip) worked out great and he got the
job done,” said Doug McNair. “The trips have not
worked out 100 percent for him.”
“He’s come back well,” said trainer Tony
Alagna. “The five-eighths mile racing is really
not his forte (he finished fourth at Pocono in
the Hempt). Everything came together tonight.”
The victory improved the O’Brien Award
winner’s 2018 record to 2-0-2 from six trips
postward. The eight-time winner upped his
lifetime earnings to $728,760 with the win.
$50,000 Crawford Farms Meadowlands
Pace - Elim #2
Courtly Choice survived a tough, first-over
trip to take home top honours in his ‘Pace’ elim
for the tandem of driver David Miller and
trainer Blake MacIntosh.
Supplemented to the event for more than
$60,000, the son of Art Major-Lady Ashlee Ann
got away third while the other supplemental
entry to this year’s event – Jimmy Freight –
rolled to the lead and hustled the field through
panels of :27, :54.2 and 1:22.2. Courtly Choice
pressed the leader around the final turn before
putting him away and fending off backfield
challengers. Courtly Choice halted the teletimer
in 1:48.2 en route to defeating American
History. Jimmy Freight and Dorsoduro Hanover
finished in a dead heat for third, leaving Babes
Dig Me with the fifth-place finish.
“I actually got away where I expected to,”
said David Miller. “He felt really strong. I
asked him and he paced really hard. He’s got big
lungs and can carry his speed.”
“From last year to this year, he’s really
matured,” said trainer Blake MacIntosh. “He
loves to race now.”
Hutt Racing Stable, Mac And Heim Stables,
Daniel Plouffe and Touch Stone Farms share
ownership on the speedball who now boasts a
5-for-7 record this season. The seven-time
winner will try to add to his $186,795 bankroll.
Here's how the field will line up behind the
gate for next Saturday's final:
$701,830 Crawford Farms Meadowlands
Pace
1. Stay Hungry - 3-1
2. This Is The Plan - 15-1
3. American History - 5-1
4. Jimmy Freight - 9/2
5. Courtly Choice - 5/2
6. Nutcracker Sweet - 15-1
7. Hayden Hanover - 8-1
8. Thinkbig Dreambig - 12-1
9. Babes Dig Me - 30-1
10. Dorsoduro Hanover - 15-1
$250,000 Graduate Series Final –
Four-Year-Old Open Pace
Donttellmeagain matched the world record for
a four-year-old gelding on a mile track when he
sizzled to a 1:47.2 score for driver Tim Tetrick
and trainer Jim King, Jr.
The son of Dragon Again-Donttellmewhattodo
watched Western Joe chop out the opening quarter
in :26.2 before looping past that foe and
grabbing the lead. It was a short-lived lead,
however, as Miso Fast rocketed past him on the
way to the mid-way point. Miso Fast his the half
in :53.2 and the three-quarter pole in 1:20.2
before Tetrick angled Donttellmeagain back to
the outside. Donttellmeagain had enough in
reserve to wrestle away the lead from Miso Fast,
and he went on to post the win over Miso Fast
and Western Joe.
“I had to make a decision,” winning driver
Tim Tetrick said. “I knew (Miso Fast) was going
to get an easy lead and if I gave him four or
five lengths I wasn’t going to be able to beat
him. I made a quick decision and got up there
quick and got to follow the horse I had to beat,
I thought.
“He’s chased at them and given them a run,”
Tetrick added. “They knew that he was in the
race every time. The little guy is the little
engine that could and it fits him pretty good.”
Paton Racing Stables Inc of Lambertville, NJ
owns the gelding who now boasts a 2-2-0 record
from six trips to the track in 2018. The 15-time
winner boosted his lifetime earnings to
$432,710.
$250,000 Graduate Series Final –
Four-Year-Old Open Trot
Ariana G hasn’t been herself in recent weeks
for trainer Jimmy Takter, but she was a
combination of deadly, vicious and ruthless in
her Saturday evening assignment.
The four-year-old daughter of Muscle
Hill-Cantab It All posted back-to-back sub-par
performances prior to Saturday’s world
record-setting performance of 1:50.2 over nine
of the sport’s top four-year-old square gaiters.
The time was the fastest ever by a four-year-old
female trotter on a mile track. The previous
record of 1:51 was shared by three mares:
Mistery Woman in 2014, Hannelore Hanover in 2016
and Emoticon Hanover in 2017.
Yannick Gingras hustled the 3-2 favourite to
the lead from Post 8, and he never let his foot
off the accelerator. After going unchallenged
past the quarter in :27.3, Ariana G came under
attack from a parked out International Moni.
Gingras fed that one his lunch by parking him
through middle splits of :55.2 and 1:23.2.
Ariana G smoked home in :27 to win by a
comfortable margin over Moonshiner Hanover.
Sortie was third.
“She was awesome tonight,” winning trainer
Jimmy Takter said. “I’m so glad she’s where she
belongs. She went up to Canada (in June) and her
blood work was wrong and she scoped bad and I
had to give her a little time to rebound from
that. She had a good winter, so I knew she was
in top-level form, it’s just those things happen
when they get sick.”
“I wanted to keep (International Moni) out
there,” Gingras said. “He didn’t look like he
had as much trot as I did. My mare felt so
strong. I was going to take matters into my own
hands and she showed it. I told Jimmy it was a
taxing half (mile) and I wasn’t a hundred
percent sure I was going to win, but in the last
turn she started to swell up and felt so, so
strong. I knew something would have to happen
for her to get beat tonight.”
Bred and owned by Ontario partners Marvin
Katz of Toronto and Al Libfeld of Pickering,
Ariana G won for the second time this season
from four attempts. The 23-time winner saw her
lifetime cash stash jump to $2,132,422 with the
victory.
$66,200 Mary Reynolds –
Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Lima Novelty was an ultra-impressive winner
against her sophomore foes, and in doing so she
made the day for a number of longshot players.
Sent off at odds of 16-1, the daughter of
Chapter Seven-No Pictures was parked in the
early going while Ciao Dolce and Lucky Ava
battled to the quarter pole in :28.4. Lucky Ava
cleared to the top, but only for a brief moment.
Fury Road swept past that foe, and just as she
did she came under pressure from Lima Royalty.
Those two trotted past the half in :56.3 before
Lima Royalty muscled to the top. From there she
opened up on her foes past the three-quarter
pole in 1:24.3. She used a :27.3 final frame to
win convincingly over Lucky Ava and Ciao Dolce.
Linda Toscano trains the trotting lass for
Kenneth Jacobs of Baldwinsville, NY. The win
improved her 2018 record to 3-0-3 from seven
assignments, and the lion’s share of the loot
bumped her overall bankroll to $162,052.
(With quotes from Meadowlands and USTA)
25°C 
RACE
2 - Meadowlands - NJ - July 7, 2022
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