Meadowlands: Royal pedigrees on display in Haughton/Doherty Memorials

The Peter Haughton and Jim Doherty Memorials for 2-year-old trotters on Saturday are the first major tests for a new crop of colts and fillies. These premier Meadowlands stakes races have a long history, and it is specifically from that past that we may get to divine the future.

In the Haughton, King Of The North, an undefeated colt from the first crop of Walner, is the likely favorite following an impressive score in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final. King Of The North then went on to capture one of two preliminaries for the Haughton last week, digging in late for driver Mark MacDonald.

"I was very happy with the race," said MacDonald on Saturday. "He was battling a bit of sickness that he's gotten over."

MacDonald has been the driving force behind King Of The North, who was bred and is trained by Ray Schnittker. Of course, it was Schnittker doing both jobs back in 2011 when Check Me Out, the dam of King Of The North, captured the then-titled Merrie Annabelle before the name was rechristened to honor the late Jim Doherty.

While King Of The North's winning time of 1:56 1/5 didn't quite measure up to his best performance of the season, MacDonald was undeterred in his praise.

"The track was very deep last night (Friday)," MacDonald said. "When I called on him, he responded."

In fact, not only was the Meadowlands surface not up to par, but wind in the faces of the young horses proved a factor as well.

For King Of The North, it's one thing having royalty on both sides of his pedigree, it's another having those genes translate to greatness. While breeders abound look for the answer to what is necessary to produce a champion, quite often expectations are rarely matched on the racetrack with production. Check Me Out had three foals (all fillies) prior to King Of The North's arrival, and they collectively earned less during their racing careers than King Of The North has already made ($135k) in just his first four starts.

Check Me Out, a daughter of Donato Hanover, went on to earn $1.9 million during her racing career and appears to have finally broken the ice in the broodmare ranks.

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The offspring of another Merrie Annabelle champion - Shake It Cerry - did not live up to expectations in the lone Doherty trial last Friday, but that is unlikely to make her connections waver on her overall talent. Another daughter of Donato Hanover, Shake It Cerry was the 2013 2-year-old champion filly for trainer Jimmy Takter and her second foal, Mon Cheval, has the appearance of a freshman with a world of talent.

Gamblers who watched Mon Cheval in her elimination may question some of that early high praise, but it would be wise to look past the off-the-board performance.

"I just had to stop and start her and then there was no outer flow," said Dexter Dunn, who drove the Father Patrick-sired lass in just her second career start in the Doherty elimination. "I thought she raced as well as you could have expected given the trip."

Mon Cheval was pushed wide in the early stages and then drafted behind cover during a very slow opening-half. She had to come wide on the final turn and had little chance into a headwind, as well as a 27 4/5 final quarter.

Mon Cheval was a 1:54 2/5 qualifying winner in June at the Meadowlands, so it stands to reason should she not have to race wide around the track in the final, she's likely ready for a much better mile.

This year's Doherty could have another potential champion from a classy trotting mare that didn't capture the Merrie Annabelle. It would hardly be a surprise if Joviality S, a daughter of Chapter Seven who was a runaway winner in last week's elimination for driver Brian Sears and trainer Marcus Melander, was in the winner's circle after the Final.

Joviality S is Pasithea Face's first foal, and given what we've seen of her so far, she has all the makings of a classy stakes performer. While Pasithea Face was a 5-year-old when she came to the United States to race for Jimmy Takter, the daughter of Muscle Hill was already an international star at the time. Pasithea Face captured the 2017 Steele Memorial for trotting mares at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day.

For trainer Melander, Joviality S has taken a similar path to the Doherty as the 2019 winner Hypnotic AM did just a few years ago. A winner in a New York Sire Stakes event at Saratoga Harness (July 6) in 1:56 4/5, Joviality S captured her Doherty elimination in 1:54 1/5, going two seconds faster than King Of The North in the process. Her 27 2/5 final quarter was also nearly two seconds faster than King Of The North traveled his final two furlongs, but wind conditions may have eased by that time in the night at the Meadowlands.

"It was definitely a big mile," said Melander of Joviality S's performance.

"Her race before was very good, too. She came a long way on the outside, and that was a very fast mile," continued Melander, as he needlessly defended her second-place finish in a 1:53 1/5 mile on July 16 at the Meadowlands where his filly made up six lengths in a 56 final half while racing without cover.

While the maternal side of the breeding equation appears to have the upper hand in this year's two Hambletonian Day freshman trotting stakes, it would be unwise to look away from an unsung superstar that may be flying under the radar on the trotting side in 2021, with Walner's early emergence dominating the headlines. Nuncio was able to revive an aging pedigree when he raced, and his limited first crop in North America appears to have the manners and speed of their sire.

"I think Letsdoit S is my best one," said Melander, not referring to the sire but the expanse of his juvenile colts in training. "He put in a big mile in the elimination and showed heart."

Indeed, Letsdoit S came first-over for Brian Sears and was a solid second to Robertsin in a Haughton elimination. He's already a 1:54 4/5 winner from a division of the Kindergarten at the Meadowlands.

Who knows what the future will bring for these 2-year-olds? Saturday is likely to be the first step in proving the power that comes from an elite pedigree.