Meadowlands: Callahan hopes to get ‘Funky’ in Preferred

Driver Corey Callahan spends most of his days during the winter at Dover Downs as a regular but on weekends he makes the trip up to The Meadowlands looking to drive some of the better horses and prepare for stakes engagements ahead. On this Saturday, Callahan will get reacquainted with Funknwaffles in the featured $21,000 Preferred Handicap as the 5-year-old gets ready for the stakes races.

“He was good qualifying him and Jason (Bartlett) drove him and he was good at Freehold,” Callahan said of Funknwaffles, who is now racing out of the Joe Holloway stable.

“I spoke with Joe about whether to race him here or at Dover and I thought The Meadowlands would be better because it would likely be a short field. If we raced him at Dover he’d probably get the eight-hole and that would force me to have to use him hard,” said Callahan.

The advice appeared to work out well as only seven were entered in the Preferred Handicap with Funkwaffles, a gelded son of American Ideal, landing post five.

“They have him staked for the Levy and I’ve been told that Jason (Bartlett) will drive him on the half-mile track and I’ll have him for his other races. We’ll see,” said Callahan, clearly aware that Bartlett generally gets multiple calls in the Levy series and that may leave the door ajar for a return behind the $900K lifetime winner at Yonkers.

“Mark Harder called me up and asked me to drive Boogie Shuffle (in to qualify at The Meadowlands on Friday) in the Levy,” said Callahan, who obviously expects to shift from the Meadowlands in March should he have the horsepower.

Getting back to Funknwaffles, a solid 2 and 3-year-old for trainer John Butenschoen, he won just twice in 10 starts last year and Callahan and company are hoping for better days to come. “It was just a tough assignment for him last year,” Callahan said. “He’s not the biggest horse and he has to work very hard for everything. I think going up against some of the bigger stronger horses last year just didn’t work out for him.”

On Saturday, Funkwaffles will battle the streaking Tuxedo Bay (post 7), a winner three times in four starts this year for trainer Mark Silva. Also to his outside will be Bettor Memories (post 6), a 6-year-old by Bettor’s Delight returning to action after two months absence for trainer Nifty Norman.

Callahan hopes that his choice in the third race, Paprike Blue Chip (post 9), will bounce back after a disappointing finish a week ago. “That was my fault,” said Callahan. “I got him into trouble and we lost all chance. He was a quality 2-year-old and I think he’s coming back around now.” Paprike Blue Chip earned over $200K as a juvenile in 2017 but has won just one time in 14 starts since.

Callahan had to make another tough choice in the sixth race and opted for Ever Again (post 1) over Bushwacker (post 8). “Ever Again has been racing really well these last few weeks. The trouble is I keep running into Yannick (Gingras) with a (Ron) Burke horse every time,” said Callahan, describing how it felt to have Ginger Tree Marty with Gingras roll by last week. Fortunately this time around there is no Burke horse in this field.

Rock Star, Callahan’s drive in race nine, has a win and a second in his last two starts but his pilot didn’t sound very excited about his chances on Saturday. “He’s moving up two classes and I think that’s going to be tough for him,” said Callahan.

Callahan will once again drive Alotbettor N for red-hot trainer Jenn Bongiorno in the tenth race. When last the two raced at The Meadowlands on January 26 they were a strong closing third against tougher company.

Callahan drove in fewer doubleheaders last year but has picked up his activity this year. “My kids are getting a little older and getting into sports. I’d really like to be there for the soccer games and such,” said Callahan, who expects to be a regular once Harrah’s Philadelphia opens in April and drive.