The Meadows: "Beach Boys" set for Adios showdown after romping in elims

Heavy favorites Beach Glass and Pebble Beach, already with wins in the Meadowlands Pace and North America Cup in their respective collections, will look to add the Adios trophy to their haul after authoritative victories in Saturday's two $25,000 eliminations for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers at The Meadows.

Beach Glass just floated out from post two in the first elim, but driver Yannick Gingras kept him two-wide on the first turn, pressed on, and grabbed the top spot away from River Ness (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) after the 26 3/5 opening quarter. Beach Glass never had an anxious moment after that as he zipped through a 54 second half and a 1:22 three-quarters over the sloppy going and closed in 27 seconds to win by 5 3/4 lengths in 1:49. Fourever Boy (Mike Wilder) wound up second after coming first-over out of fourth past the half, and Nautical Hanover (Todd McCarthy) rallied from sixth to third in the last quarter. Ario Hanover (David Miller) also advanced to the final by finishing fourth.

"I was just letting them all settle," Gingras said. "I wanted him on the front obviously, but I just wanted to stay out of trouble.

"He's better every week. He was amazing in the Meadowlands Pace, and he was amazing today. We get to pick our post position? Awesome. You just made my day."

Brent MacGrath trains Beach Glass, a Somebeachsomewhere colt, for owner/breeder Schooner II Stable. Beach Glass has compiled a record of 7-3-0 from 11 career starts, pushed his earnings to $562,145, and returned $2.10 across the board as the 1-9 favorite.

"He's just learning how to do it, and he's coming into his own," MacGrath said. "We just need to keep him healthy, keep him out of trouble and give him to Yannick."

Pebble Beach (T. McCarthy) hadn't made a pari-mutuel start since winning the North America Cup, but he showed no rust in taking the other elimination in 1:50 1/5. Pebble Beach showed speed from post four, and although he had to work to clear Market Based (Gingras) after the opening quarter, the tempo was soft with that marker reached in just 28 1/5. Pebble Beach kept the pace relaxed once he touched down on the point, hitting the half in 56 3/5 and the three-quarters in 1:23 2/5, and he fired home in 26 4/5 to prevail by 5 3/4 lengths. Bythemissal (Chris Page) closed well, rallying from fifth to second in the last quarter, and Quick Snap (Dave Palone) checked in third. Atlas Hanover (Andy McCarthy) took fourth and also moved on to next week's final.

A Downbytheseaside colt bred by Brittany Farms LLC., Downbytheseaside is trained by Noel Daley for owners Patricia Stable, Joe Sbrocco, Country Club Acres Inc., and Laexpressfoderadeovolente. Pebble Beach is now an 11-time winner from 16 lifetime tries, has pocketed $815,650, and paid $2.80 to win as the 2-5 favorite.

Daley said he tried a rigging experiment with Pebble Beach in the elimination, an experiment Daley considers a failure.

"He runs in but doesn't like to wear a head pole," Daley said. "So we tried a Murphy blind today. We tried it in Canada; he ran off the track, but we thought he needed it on a tighter track. We'll take that back off. He won't wear anything, and we'll have to steer him. Everything else looked good."

One more spot in the final was decided between the two fifth-place finishers in the eliminations, and River Ness would get to move on by virtue of having higher career earnings than Dancin Sancho.

--quotes courtesy of the MSOA--