Meadowlands: Remmen hoping for the best in 12-horse Golden Girls

By most accounts, Saturday’s $213,450 Golden Girls for older pacing mares is as wide-open an event as the Meadowlands has carded all season long. The 1-1/8 mile contest, tabbed as race nine of 14 on the card, includes a dozen mares. The good news for gamblers is that none can lay claim to being standouts this year, though some have impressive resumes from years past. One of the mares in the field, Sandbetweenurtoes, was an impressive eight-time winner in 11 starts as a 3-year-old, primarily for trainer Larry Remmen. She’s come back reasonably sharp this year with two victories in five tries and one could say she has as good a chance as any to capture the event.

“She went up to Canada and raced for (trainer) Richard Moreau and performed well,” said Larry Remmen of Sandbetweenurtoes. “She won her last race against lesser mares and she wasn’t overpowering.”

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Remmen’s cautious optimism has a lot to do with putting a 4-year-old mare in against older foes. That’s primarily not the case on Saturday night, with only three mares older than age 4 in the contest. From that group, Anndrovette, a hard-hitting mare with nearly $3.2 million in career earnings, drew post 10 and will be looking for win number two on the year in her 11th start. Both Venus Delight and Rocklamation, the other two older mares in the group, landed in the second tier for the added distance race and that could compromise their chances. Venus Delight captured the Blue Chip Matchmaker final at Yonkers in April. Rocklamation captured the Golden Girls last year from post nine when the race was held at the traditional mile distance. Trainer Ron Burke indicated the 7-year-old has turned the corner with more positive races ahead.

Remmen indicated that Sandbetweenurtoes is ready for the challenge. “She came back to us 10 days ago and she’s trained well,” said Remmen. The daughter of Somebeachsomewhere won her first eight races as a 3-year-old including the prestigious Mistletoe Shalee at the Meadowlands.

“She got sick on us and wasn’t the same late in the year,” said Remmen of the three late-season defeats. However, this year she’s shown to be competitive against the top mares, finishing third in the Roses Are Red final at Mohawk on June 20 coming from well off the pace.

The Golden Girls could be a wild event, with no clear favorite and a solid sprint into the first turn due to the extra yardage. Last year’s Breeders Crown odds-on favorite, Colors A Virgin, returns to the Meadowlands for the Golden Girls with Tony O’Sullivan taking over the training for Brian Brown. The Indiana-bred mare drew post eight.

Trainer Kelvin Harrison will be looking for a big night. He has In The Arsenal in the Meadowlands Pace and Beach Story (post seven) in the Golden Girls. Beach Story has been rock solid for the last six weeks, but will need to come up with a big effort from post seven.

Act Now is another 4-year-old mare that has at times shown extreme speed, but not always the finishing power to get home. She landed post four for trainer Nick Drennan coming off a solid third-place finish in her first start in three weeks.

The Meadowlands is offering a guaranteed $100,000 Pick 4 pool in races 7 through 10. A dozen horses in the ninth race makes the wager rather compelling and the payoff likely to be well worth the effort.

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