The renaissance of the New Jersey breeding industry, especially on the pacing side, will be on display Friday night (July 22) at the Meadowlands as the track hosts four $240,000 finals for 2-year-olds. In just two years' time the total purses for the finals have increased from $512,000 to $960,000, and the pacing championships have gone from two-horse races to a full field of 10 and an eight-horse field. Consider that Anna Jeans captured the $96,000 final in 2020 with a final time of 2:05 2/5, and now that field includes multiple horses that have already paced in 1:53 or better, while the colt division has a 1:50 4/5 winner in Lifes A Puzzle. "I'm so excited about where we are today. The number of stallions has increased and so have the number of mares bred," said Sire Stakes Board of Trustees member Mike Gulotta. "You have to thank the legislators and Governor Murphy for the purse appropriation, the Meadowlands and the SBOA of New Jersey for their concerted effort. "When you look at how far the Sire Stakes has come you can't just look at the Sire Stakes. You have to look at the races for New Jersey-sired horses, including the new Classic Series. The breeders' awards are huge compared to where we were. The breeder of a horse that wins the Sire Stakes final will get a 12 percent bonus [$14,400]." The New Jersey Classic Series will offer a second opportunity for state-sired 2- and 3-year-olds to earn money in September at the Meadowlands. The four freshmen races will offer $300,000 purses, while the 3-year-old trotters will race for $150,000 each. There will also be "B" division finals worth $100,000 each. Back with Friday's Sire Stakes finals, likely favorites Lifes A Puzzle (8-5, post five) and Handlelikeaporsche (2-1, post seven) are sons of Lazarus, who has seen his first crop dominate the numbers on the pacing side in New Jersey, as 16 of the 18 finalists are by the two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year who happens to stand at Gulotta's Deo Volente Farms. "Lifes A Puzzle was pretty impressive. I think he is kind of special," said Gulotta. "People are excited about the Lazarus horses and more importantly I've heard good things from the trainers about them." Interestingly, the only non-Lazarus-sired filly is the likely favorite in the $240,000 championship for the girls. Ucandoit Blue Chip (2-1, post five), a two-time winner in the series with a 1:51 4/5 lifetime mark, is a daughter of $1.6 million winner Keystone Velocity, a war-horse of sorts who made a name for himself winning the Levy (two times), Ben Franklin and Potomac, among other races. Bred by Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc., Scott Zeron drives the filly for trainer Linda Toscano and owner Bill Elliott, who didn't exactly have to twist Toscano's arm to take the daughter of Molly Can Do It. "Bill [Elliott] had asked me whether I would train one for him, and I wasn't really looking for another horse," said Toscano. "He asked me if I saw the Molly Can Do It and what was wrong with her. I said she's a Keystone Velocity, so I didn't pursue it. Bill ended up buying her and asked me to train. How could I not take a horse out of Molly? "She was always ok training down but never gave the impression of a top filly. She just did nothing wrong, and I like that type. I call them vanilla, invisible horses. They just do their work. When I qualified her I knew I had a little more than I thought." Ucandoit Blue Chip found a tuck early and powered home in 25 4/5 and 25 3/5 in her two Sire Stakes wins. While Toscano said the driving decisions are up to Scott, she added that off-the-pace is her filly's best game. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter The trotting finals, which have grown from $160,000 in 2020 to $200,000 in 2021 to their current level, are ultra-competitive and include sons and daughters of mainstay upper-echelon stallions Muscle Hill and Walner, along with Trixton and newcomer Tactical Landing. Gulotta co-owns and bred Up Your Deo (5-1, post six) in the male final and is hoping he can step up from a head loss in his lone start. "It's a funny name, isn't it? Normally we like to be more sophisticated, but we had a little fun with that one," said Gulotta, who bought back into the colt at the request of the Svanstedts after they purchased the son of Grand Stand. Celebrity Bambino was made the 3-1 morning-line choice from post nine in the colt split, while Mambacita was given lower early odds of 2-1 in the filly trot from the seven-hole. Yannick Gingras will guide the Ron Burke-trained Celebrity Bambino, a son of Muscle Hill, and David Miller steers the Tactical Landing filly Mambacita for Tony Alagna. The Sire Stakes finals are set as races four, six, eight and 10 on a 13-race program Friday. Post time is 6:20 P.M.