Meadowlands: Starstruck Dreamer, Miss Dolce score in Kindergarten pacing finals

Starstruck Dreamer and Miss Dolce emerged as the winners from Saturday night's pair of Grade 3 $125,000 Kindergarten Series finals for 2-year-old pacers at the Meadowlands.

First up were the colts and geldings, and Starstruck Dreamer (Todd McCarthy), sent off at 1-2 from post ten off a runner-up finish in last Friday's Breeders Crown final for his division, tucked into third before Seine (Joe Bongiorno) hit the quarter in 28 seconds. Seine would go on to reach the half in 56 3/5 and the three-quarters in 1:24 2/5 as pocket-sitter Aintmyfirstro Deo (Scott Zeron) and Starstruck Dreamer from the three-hole were content to follow the tempo-setter.

The sprint was on in the lane among the top three horses, and although Seine cut the fractions and had the jump, Starstruck Dreamer had a 25 4/5 final kicker in reserve after McCarthy tipped him out, and he was able to surge past Seine late to score by a neck in 1:50 3/5. Aintmyfirstro Deo wound up third, followed by Wishawave (Tim Tetrick) and Scary Terry (Mark Herschberger).

"He's such a thrill, and he's a very energetic horse," McCarthy said post-race. "He's got so much speed, and I was really happy I finally got to trip him out like that tonight and use his speed on the end. He's still quite green and he's learning a lot. He's obviously lightly-raced, but he's a big thrill to sit behind every time."

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Noel Daley trains Starstruck Dreamer, a Captaintreacherous colt bred by Sergent Stables LLC., for owners Steve Wienick Racing LLC., Pryde Stables Inc., Jfoderatritchiecanamerica and Hyatt Holdings Inc. He has a summary of 7-2-0 from nine starts, has earned $454,000 and paid $3 to win.

"He just had to go to the inside, which he hadn't done before, and he just hesitated that little bit," Daley said of the Breeders Crown where Starstruck Dreamer wound up in the passing lane from the pocket. "He lost his momentum, and Blazin Lou, who has been going really good, had the momentum on him. We were picking up again after the line. He's a very good horse, this horse. I wouldn't swap him for any of them. Him, Shalom Hanover and Blazin Lou, they're three nice horses.

"I didn't know quite how good he was when I started out. I knew he was nice, but until Pocono, I didn't really know he was like he is now. Any time you can get away with ten starts, and he's made $450,000 I think now, I'm pretty happy putting him away in good shape like he is. He's got no problems, so that's good."

Bongiorno improved from second in the final for the boys to the winner in the filly final as he guided Miss Dolce to a 1:51 2/5 victory.

Miss Dolce fired out from post five and cleared JK Simcha (Zeron) and Call Me Crazy (Stacy Chiodo) past the 27 1/5 quarter, then yielded to sit in the pocket behind JK Simcha when Zeron moved her to the point en route to the 56 1/5 half. With Gift Of Faith (McCarthy) unable to make up ground in the first-over position heading around the last turn and to the 1:23 4/5 three-quarters, the race was down to just JK Simcha and Miss Dolce in the lane. After Miss Dolce swung to the outside, she vaulted past JK Simcha en route to triumph by three-parts of a length. Perfect Kiss (Yannick Gingras), Call Me Crazy and Gift Of Faith rounded out of the top five.

"This was the first time driving her. I was honestly shocked when I saw the driver changes come out and I saw I was on her," offered Bongiorno. "I knew she'd been sharp the last few starts. I figured I'd put her in play tonight and everything worked out.

"I was very, very happy with the two-hole. They said she's better with a target. Stacy pushed hard off the rail. I knew it was going to take a little bit to get there, but I had a feeling Scottie wasn't going to be comfortable following me. When he re-moved, I was more than happy to go a fair second quarter and take my shot in the lane."

A Perfect Sting homebred for co-owner Val D'Or Farms and co-owner/trainer Joe Holloway, Miss Dolce has three wins and four seconds from 12 appearances, has pocketed $127,969 and returned $7.60 to win as the 5-2 third choice.