Meadowlands: Stakes contenders join in on Breakfast with the Babies

While the baby races at the Meadowlands are winding down, the horses using Saturday morning's qualifiers to get a fast mile in yielded some useful insight into the next month's major Grand Circuit stakes.

The great Ramona Hill got a good workout in with a 1:53 1/5 win for Andy McCarthy. She followed stablemate Hello I Love You through the 1:24 4/5 three-quarters, then sailed by under her own power, looking forward to next Saturday's Hambletonian Maturity for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Brad Grant, Crawford Farms, Robert LeBlanc and John Fodera and Steve Wienick as In The Gym Partners.

Pacing fillies Staycation Hanover (Todd McCarthy) and Fire Start Hanover (Dexter Dunn) went to the wire together in a 27 2/5 end to the 1:52 4/5 mile in their qualifer, with the former edging he opponent right on the blink. The Mistletoe Shalee is next week for the sophomore girls.

Ake Svanstedt brought the flashy Hambletonian prospect Captain Corey to the Meadowlands this morning and gave him a 1:53 (26 4/5 last quarter) airing out. Alone on top virtually all the way, the Googoo Gaagaa colt is certainly a head turner and appears to be about where you'd want him going into the first Saturday in August.

Finally, two Jenn Bongiorno trainees, the vaunted Nicholas Beach (B. Sears) and his new stablemate Major Betts (A. McCarthy) went to the wire in tandem in a 27 second end to a 1:49 4/5 mile, with Nicholas declared the winner by the slimmest of margins. That pair appears to be ready for anything.

The first of the ten 2-year-old races was a filly pace where Dexter Dunn had Isntitalovelyday on a long lead throughout and was moving like a winner until right there at the end when Sweet Rock Deo and Jack Pelling rallied from well back to snap Isntitalovelyday right on the wire in 1:54 4/5. Superbly (T. McCarthy) was third. Brett Pelling trains the winner, a Sweet Lou filly from the great race mare Rocklamation, a $190,000 Lexington (LSYS) purchase by David McDuffee from breeders Deo Volente Farm and T L P Stable.

Giza Dreams (Scott Zeron) was a start-to-finish winner in her very first endeavor, setting comfortable fractions, then tacking on a 28 3/5 end to a mile in 2:01 1/5. Grandeur (Pat Lachance) rallied but fell just short late to be second. Giza Dreams, by the red hot Walner, is trained by Hall Of Famer Linda Toscano for Wiesman Farms, and Carter Duer is the breeder.

Quick Snap (Dexter Dunn) was a winner at first asking, getting up between horses through a 27 4/5 end to a 1:55 mile. Layton Hanover (A. McCarthy) rallied just wide of the winner but couldn't get him, while Top Genius (Zeron) held third after cutting the mile. Let It Ride Stable (also the breeder), Bottom Line Racing and MT Pockets Stables own the winner, a Betting Line colt, in partnership with trainer Tony Alagna.

The sharp-looking Nuncio trotting colt Letsdoit S (Sears) took over mid-stretch from Abruzzo (Marcus Miller), then dug in impressively to hold off the late rush of Fast As The Wind (Dunn) for a 1:56 4/5 (28 1/5 last quarter) win. A Stall TZ homebred, Letsdoit S is trained by Marcus Melander.

Niki Hill (Dunn) impressed in her career debut, converting a nice pocket ride into a 1:54 4/5 (27 2/5 last quarter) win over pace-setter Captains Princess (A. McCarthy), with Treacherous Dragon (Tim Tetrick) third. The winner, an Always B Miki filly, was a $155,000 Lexington purchase by Tom Hill from breeder Stephen Dey III. Chris Ryder, who trained the great Party Girl Hill for the same connections last season, conditions the winner.

The Ready Cash filly Jeannica S (Mattias Melander) was another winner at first asking in 1:59 2/5 (29 1/5 last quarter). Melander tracked along behind eventual place finisher Intellect Hill (Dunn) through even fractions before tipping off that one at the three-quarter pole and going by. Just Bee Awesome (Dave Miller) flashed good late trot while in-hand to get up for second. Courant Inc. owns the winner, bred by France's Julinus AB, and Marcus Melander is the trainer.

Arsonist (Dunn) led all the way for a 1:54 2/5 (28 1/5 last quarter) win over Captain Cook (Scott Zeron) and the late- charging, under a grip Bounty Hunter (Sears). Arsonist is a Captaintreacherous homebred colt out of Candlelight Dinner owned by Let It Ride, Mac Nichol, Howard Taylor, and Robert Cooper, and is trained in the Chris Ryder barn.

Ducasse (Jimmy Takter) got up in the last step to nail Highgate, who had set all the fractions for trainer/driver Greg Peck, in 2:01 3/5 (29 1/5 last quarter), while Mr Michelon (Tetrick) followed along for third. Ducasse is a Father Patrick colt, bred by Fair Island Farm, who retained a piece with partners Brixton Medical, Christina Takter, and Hatfield Stables after he went through the Lexington sale for $100,000.

The Captiantreacherous filly Dont Fence Me In had them on their feet at stately Bell Manor in Boynton Beach when Dexter Dunn fanned her off the cover of Yes Indeed (Tetrick), then stormed by on her own for the 1:54 4/5 win, her individual final fraction in 27 seconds. Captiva (T. McCarthy) stayed on for third after cutting the mile. Dont Fence Me In was bred by Myron and Stephanie Bell's Riverview Breeding and is now owned in partnership with Steve Head, Jerry Glantz, and trainer Tony Alagna.

Butterfly Face S was in the right place at the right time for trainer/driver/owner Lucas Wallin, taking advantage of Pink Coco Chanel's late stretch break, then fighting off Ladybugs N Bourbon (Dunn) to post a 1:56 1/5 win. The Swedish-bred Raja Mirchi filly was bred by Lufti Kolgjini and Anna Svensson.

--press release (Meadowlands)--