Harness Racing: Meadowlands Pace lures 13 horses; Captaintreacherous accepts bye into final

When racing secretary Peter Koch opened up the entry box for the 2013 edition of the Meadowlands Pace, he found 13 hopefuls aiming for the $635,750 final, to be contested on July 13 at the East Rutherford, N.J. oval. Heading the list but not slated to compete in the 10-horse elimination this Saturday is North America Cup winner Captaintreacherous, who accepted a bye into the final.

Rules for the Meadowlands Pace allow for up to three byes when 13 horses enter. Along with Captaintreacherous, Wake Up Peter and Twilight Bonfire will skip the elimination and wait for the final.

“We were very happy with the bye for Captain,” said trainer Tony Alagna, who also conditions Wake Up Peter and said the colt will qualify at the Meadowlands Saturday instead of racing in the elimination.

Captaintreacherous is coming off a gutsy win Saturday in the $500,000 Max Hempt Memorial, where he was forced to race wide on two of the three turns over the five-eighths Pocono Downs track.

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“As hard as [Captintreacherous] raced the other night, a week off is not going to hurt him,” Alagna said. “It is great when a plan comes together, and part of the reason we entered in the Hempt was we’ve been counting and calculating, thinking that we may get a bye.”

Captaintreacherous continues to find a way to reach the wire first. The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Worldly Treasure remains perfect in five starts this year and has only tasted defeat twice in 15 career starts.

“Everyone knows what I think of this horse, yet he even impressed me,” said Alagna about the Hempt effort.

Of those that will be on the gate for the July 6 elimination, there is hardly a standout in the field. Two of the marquee names during the winter – Odds On Equuleus and Rockin Amadeus – are both signed on. Each earned over $400,000 in 2012 and was thought to be on the road to special things in his sophomore year. But the road has been rocky on the way to the top.

Odds On Equuleus is coming off a poor ninth-place finish in the North America Cup at Mohawk Racetrack in Canada after a bout with a foot abscess leading up to the race.

“At the end of the day, the foot abscess and being sick was too much to overcome,” said trainer Robin Schadt on the poor effort. “He trained really well Saturday at the Meadowlands and seems to be back to himself now.”

Schadt said that Odds On Equuleus paced a mile in the 1:51 range on Saturday, and he was very happy that enough horses entered to have an elimination and give Odds On Equuleus the opportunity to race for a chance to allow his connections to pick a post for the final should he win. Unfortunately the colt will have to overcome post 10 to make it happen.

Rockin Amadeus was a lackluster sixth in the Hempt final after some early season success in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final at the Meadowlands. He will look to rebound on a track where he sports a 5-3-1-0 career record.

One of the sharper entrants is Beach Memories. Another son of Somebeachsomewhere, the Brian Brown-trained colt brushed to the front in the Hempt consolation and cruised to an impressive 1:48 3/5 score.

Although his lines were not pretty in Canada, Resistance Futile returned to his favorite track and pounced off cover in 1:50 4/5 to win by more than four lengths on June 29 at the Meadowlands. The Blair Burgess trainee has yet to lose in four starts over the surface.

Rounding out the field for the elimination are: Johny Rock, Lonewolf Currier, Sir Cary’s Z Tam, Sir Richard Z Tam, Someplace Special and Sunshine Beach.

The Meadowlands Pace elimination is carded as race 10 on the 13-race program that also features two nine-horse eliminations for the William Haughton for older pacers. Newly crowned $5 million earner Foiled Again leads the pack of 18 that includes heavyweights Bolt The Duer, Golden Receiver, Heston Blue Chip, Hurrikane Kingcole, Pet Rock, Sweet Lou and Warrawee Needy. The Haughton eliminations are set for races six and nine.

First race post time is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

Meadowlands Pace Elimination - Race 10

PN/Post	Horse	Listed Driver	DRF Harness Morning Line
2 / 1	Someplace Special	C.Callahan	15-1
3 / 2	Johny Rock	A.Miller	10-1
1 / 3	Sir Cary's Z Tam	P.Lachance	15-1
1A / 4	Sir Richard Z Tam	P.Lachance	15-1
4 / 5	Sunshine Beach	G.Brennan	3-1
5 / 6	Resistance Futile	M.Lachance	8-1
6 / 7	Lonewolf Currier	B.Sears	6-1
7 / 8	Rockin Amadeus	Y.Gingras	6-1
8 / 9	Beach Memories	Y.Gingras	5-1
9 / 10	Odds On Equuleus	J.Campbell	8-1

Captaintreacherous, Wake Up Peter & Twilight Bonfire accepted byes into the final.

Sir Cary's Z Tam and Sir Richard Z Tam race as a coupled entry.