Meadowlands: Brandon Blvd dominant in Meadowlands Pace elimination

Forgoing a bye to the $810,000 Grade 1 Meadowlands Pace final, Brandon Blvd served notice to his nine rivals in the lone $50,000 elimination of the midsummer classic for 3-year-old pacers on Saturday (July 4) at the Meadowlands, delivering a devastating 1:47 3/5 win.

Dexter Dunn floated Brandon Blvd forward off the gate before settling him in fourth on approach to the first turn. Meanwhile, Obliterate (driven by Patrick Ryder) pushed clear of Ubrute (Yannick Gingras) and Bookie J (Jason Bartlett) before yielding control to Ubrute at the end of a 27 1/5 quarter. As soon as Ubrute took over, Bartlett had Bookie J out and moving from third with Brandon Blvd following a live tow to the lead up the backstretch.

Brandon Blvd accelerated to seize the top spot through a 53 3/5 half-mile and cleared to the pegs on approach to the far turn before bracing for a second move from Obliterate, who had been shuffled to fourth up the backstretch. Obliterate gained into a joint second to offer mild pressure to Brandon Blvd at the 1:21 2/5 three-quarter station, but the son of Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith shook away effortlessly upon cornering for home and capped his career-best 1:47 3/5 mile with a 26 1/5 sprint home that saw Dunn take him under a strong hold through the final 70 yards.

Sweet Lovin Lou (Scott Zeron) mounted a four-wide rally around stalled cover to take second, 1 1/2 lengths in arrears; Ubrute split foes to save third after being compromised by traffic off the far turn.

"His lungs are his biggest attribute," said Andrew Harris, who trains 10-time winner Brandon Blvd for Punisher 11 Stable. "He can carry his speed a long way and let Dex do what he wants to do."

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Harris, who together with William Pollock and Bruce Areman comprises the Punisher 11 partnership, opted to forgo a bye to the Pace final with his star colt after having not raced since he overcame post 10 to record a second-place finish behind Odds On Mr Mamba in the Grade 1 Pepsi North America Cup, on June 13, for two reasons: to give his horse a needed start, and to try to avoid getting stuck with another unfavorable post in the final. And, by virtue of his elimination win, Brandon Blvd was guaranteed to draw a post between one and six.

"We had a bad post at the North America Cup," said Pollock. "We're trying to make sure that doesn't happen here, and he accomplished that."

"Brandon is probably the best horse we've ever had. We're very confident in him."

As the 1-5 favorite, Brandon Blvd paid $2.60 to win.

In addition to the top three finishers, Gentleman's Club, Bookie J, Toby Ornot Toby and Azrael Blue Chip qualified for next week's Meadowlands Pace final after finishing fourth through seventh, respectively. They will join the trio of Al Papi, Lindy Dragonwater and Melillo, whose connections all accepted byes. The post draw for the final is as follows:

PP - HORSE - DRIVER - TRAINER - ODDS

1 - Toby Ornot Toby - Tim Tetrick - Scott DiDomenico - 20-1
2 - Brandon Blvd - Dexter Dunn - Andrew Harris - 3-5
3 - Lindy Dragonwater - Joe Bongiorno - Ron Burke - 20-1
4 - Gentleman’s Club - Andy McCarthy - Aaron Lambert - 8-1
5 - Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 10-1
6 - Bookie J - Jason Bartlett - Chris Ryder - 12-1
7 - Sweet Lovin Lou - Scott Zeron - Dan Lagace - 6-1
8 - Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 10-1
9 - Azrael Blue Chip - Brett Beckwith - Besim Odza - 30-1
10 - Ubrute - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 15-1

Morning-line odds by John Rallis.

TV: The Pace can be seen on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) during a three-hour presentation that will feature an all-Meadowlands lineup of stakes races. The broadcast begins at 8 p.m.