Meadowlands: Freshmen meet in Home Grown Paces

Two-year-old pacers of both sexes competed in Home Grown events on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. The race for colts and geldings was a non-wagering contest with a purse of $35,000, while the fillies went after a pot of $40,000 on the pari-mutuel program.

JM's Finaltreasure (Tim Tetrick) led through stations of 28 4/5, 59 2/5, and 1:28 in the flight for the boys, then sprinted home in 25 4/5 to win by 13 1/4 lengths in 1:53 4/5. Alternate Universe (George Brennan), Top Genius (Andrew McCarthy), and Camouflage Money (Scott Zeron) rounded out the order.

Trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC., J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and Phil Collura, JM's Finaltreasure was bred by White Birch Farm and was purchased for $90,000 at last year's Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. His dam is the Artsplace mare Worldly Treasure (1:53 1/5, $97,923), making JM's Finaltreasure a half-brother to Captaintreacherous (1:47 1/5, $3,147,545).

In the dash for the fillies, Gotthegreenlight (Dexter Dunn) stalked the pace from second and third, went three-wide from second-over at three-quarters, and chased down leader Onecrookedleg (McCarthy) late for a 1:52 4/5 decision. Sweet Omen (David Miller) came in third. Fractions were 28 1/5, 58 1/5, and 1:26.

Gotthegreenlight, a $40,000 acquisition from the 2020 Standardbred Horse Sale, is a daughter of American Ideal trained by Nifty Norman for owners Patricia Stable and Kovach Stables LLC. Gotthegreenlight was bred by Stephen Dey III and is out of the Bettor's Delight mare Bet On Luck (1:52 3/5, $531,617), making Gotthegreenlight a full sister to Ideal Wheel (1:50 1/5, $266,216). Gotthegreenlight paid $8.40 to win as the 3-1 second choice.