Meadowlands: Melander, Engblom trotters, Alagna pacers impressive in baby races

The North America Cup day edition of Breakfast With The Babies (BWTB), sponsored by Jules Siegel’s Fashion Farms, came an hour early at 9:00 A.M. on a beautiful, windless Saturday morning with the temperature at 70 degrees and the track fast.

Trainer Marcus Melander flaunted his imposing freshman trotting power this morning, winning five of the six colt races while finishing 1-2 in races eight through 11.

Trotting colts got underway in the seventh race, and the camera could not separate a closing Hellbent For Am (Brian Sears) and mile-cutter Legion Of Honor (Andrew McCarthy) as they crossed the wire, resulting in a 1:56 dead heat (27 3/5 last quarter). Hellbent For Am is a Anders Strom, via Courant Inc., homebred trained in the Melander barn, while Legion Of Honor was a $150,000 Lexington purchase by Mario Mazza from breeders Steve Stewart and John Carver, with Lucas Wallin doing the training. Just as impressive as the top two was the 27 flat closing kick displayed by third-place finisher Real Cool Sam (David Miller), a Fashion Farms homebred.

The Melander stable began the 1-2 binge in race eight when Maesteraemon (Sears) out-kicked Speed Ball Swagger (Mattias Melander) for a 2:01 1/5 win (last quarter was 28 seconds). Mahomes (Tim Tetrick) scrambled up for third. The winner is owned by S R F Stable, and this colt is an Andover Hall that cost $170,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale (SHS) and is a Hanover bred.

Melander came right back with Capricornus (Tetrick) to win in 1:58 2/5, taking over from stable-mate Hollywood Story (Sears) on the way to the 1:00 3/5 half, then moved away from his chief rival under his own power with a 27 3/5 final quarter. The $110,000 Cantab Hall colt, a Harrisburg yearling purchase, is a Windsong Stable bred now owned by JJ Stable.

Sears drove Expectations to a 1:57 2/5 (27 3/5 last quarter) score next, taking over early and finishing in-hand over Hell Patrol (Tetrick) and Chaptiama (Trond Smedshammer). Expectations is another son of Muscle Hill, bred by Dunroven Stud and sold in Lexington for $110,000 to Vicky Trotting.

The domination continued with Back Of The Neck (Mattias Melander) leading all the way to an easy 1:58 (28 2/5 last quarter) win over Hopeyousteponalego (Marcus Schoen) and Swiss House On Fire (Ake Svanstedt). Back Of The Neck is a son of Ready Cash, bred by Order By Stable and still shows Order By as owner despite having sold for $150,000 last fall at Harrisburg.

Svanstedt finally put the Melander reign of terror to rest by winning the last of the trotting colt races with the very sharp-looking Chapter Seven colt Third Shift. They tracked Melander trainee Gerard (M. Schoen) throughout slow fractions before blasting by in a 27 4/5 end to the 2:01 mile. Jula Trix Treasure (Gingras) closed it up to be second. The winner was a $235,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase by Mellby Gard Inc from breeder Winbak Farms.

Trotting colts from the Melander barn also won the 17th and 18th qualifiers for sophomores and up, with undefeated Gimpanzee strolling to a 1:53 4/5 win in preparation for the Beal elims next week, and then Hatikvah won on the engine in 1:55 2/5. Mattias Melander drove both.

The day’s opener featured several top-bred filly trotters, and a pair of expensive and impressive Muscle Hills finished one-two. Bellareina Dolce (Sears) took over past the quarter, rated the middle-half, then dug in when challenged by Impressive Fashion (D. Miller) as they sprinted home in lock-step through a 27 4/5 end to the 2:00 mile. Oblivion (Tetrick) was a handy third. Lennart Agren owns the winner via his S R F Stable, a $400,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale (LSYS) buy from breeder David McDuffee, and she is trained by Melander.

Gingras saved ground all the way, then found room at the rail late for Queen Of The Hill to eke out a narrow 1:58 4/5 (27 1/5 final quarter) win over a wide and charging Dramatra (Scoot Zeron). Dip Me Hanover (Tetrick) was a good third. Queen Of The Hill is an Explosive Matter filly that Al Libfeld paid $110,000 at the LSYS for to secure from breeders Paymaq Racing, Lou Willinger, and JC Bafia. She is trained in the Per Engblom stable.

Gingras took the exact same path to victory in the next race, guiding Becky Lindy to a ground-saving 1:59 3/5 (28 2/5 last quarter) score, making it two straight for the driver/trainer duo of Gingras and Engblom. They sat tight in the pocket behind the fractions set by Context (Jan Johnson) before wearing that game rival down very late to get up. Beautiful Mrs A (Marcus Miller) was third in a purposeful trip. Lindy Farms bred the winner, a $35,000 LSYS purchase by Christina Takter and John Fielding.

Jula Beauty Am made it a hat trick for Engblom and Gingras, coming wide from well-back to track down the leaders late in the stretch and get a narrow win over Common Sense (Svanstedt) in 2:00 2/5, with her final quarter in 27 3/5. Musclesandmascara (Dexter Dunn) rallied late for third. Jula Racing owns the Muscle Hill filly, an $85,000 LSYS yearling bred by AM Bloodstock.

Senorita Rita (Zeron) gave the crowd a thrill with an impressive gate-to-wire 1:57 4/5 win, trotting home in 27 1/5 under no urging. Shishito (Tetrick) actually gained in the stretch to get up for the place over Seventimesalady (Svanstedt). Ken Jacobs paid $285,000 at the LSYS for Senorita Rita, a Chapter Seven lass bred by Our Horse Cents Stable, and Hall of Famer Linda Toscano is the trainer.

Caviart Eva was a winner for McCarthy in a front-end effort this morning, finishing her 1:58 4/5 mile with a 28 1/5 last quarter with something left. Electrapedia (Svanstedt) got up to be second over Mission US (Mattias Melander). The winning Trixton filly is a Caviart Farms homebred and trained by Nancy Johansson.

The pacers came around after a training break, and Tony Alagna fillies finished 1-2 in 1:57 2/5 (27 3/5 last quarter), with Never Ever Forget (Dunn) closing to get up over the inside horses and holding off Reflect With Me (McCarthy), who lost ground after breaking while leading before the 59 2/5 half before making a nice recovery. Both fillies are by Captaintreacherous, the winner an $85,000 Lexington purchase by Alagna & In The Gym, VJ Stable, Donovan and Sbrocco from AM Bloodstock.

Alagna sent out Lady Lou (McCarthy), who led all the way to win the 14th in 1:54, with a 27 second end to hold Baby Your the Best (D. Miller) and Rocknificient (Tetrick) at bay while becoming the fastest freshman filly pacer of 2019. The daughter of Sweet Lou was bred by Robert Hamather and went through the Harrisburg sale for $55,000 to Brad Grant.

Capt Midnight (McCarthy) became the fastest freshman pacing colt of the season for Alagna when he won the 15th race in 1:52 3/5 (26 3/5 final quarter) from the pocket over a stubborn Freedom Warrior (Tetrick), with Captain Nemo (Dunn) third. The Captaintreacherous brother to Captain Trevor is a Hanover-bred and was a $350,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase by Marvin Katz, Ken Jacobs, Brad Grant and Captain Midnight Racing.

Genius Man (Marcus Miller) took the last baby race of the day with an impressive gate-to-wire 1:54 4/5 (26 4/5 final quarter) win, holding sway over Force N Fury (Dunn) and He Refuses To Lose (Matt Krueger). The winner is an Art Major colt and was an $87,000 Lexington purchase by Ron Michelon and Daniel Plouffe from breeder Winbak Farms.

There was one qualifier for aged pacers on the card as well, the final one of the day, and it went to Levy Series champion Western Fame (Daniel Dube / Rene Allard) in a sharp 1:48 3/5.

--press release (the Meadowlands)--