A Friday morning (May 14) session of qualifiers at The Meadowlands featured a number of notable performances, but the most eye-catching efforts came from a pair of talent trotters.
The fifth qualifier of the morning was the most notable, as the exasperating trotter Beads etched his name into harness racing's record books with a qualifier in 1:50.2. Off fractions of :27.2, :55.1 and 1:22.4, the four-year-old chugged home in :27.2 nearly six lengths better than a seasonally debuting Ready For Moni (Jimmy Takter), who was sneaky good in a mile individually timed in 1:51.3.
The mile was the fastest qualifying mile for a trotter in harness racing history, and also gives Beads a share of the title of fastest Canadian-sired trotter ever along with the late, great Arch Madness. Trained by Per Engblom, Beads (Archangel - Nepentha) lowered his lifetime mark by a full second with the qualifying effort. Buckstone Land Livestock of York, Penn. hold the papers on the seven-time winner who -- if he minds his manners -- looks to be a force in the upcoming Graduate Series.
A pair of three-year-old trotters also looked the part of major players with solid performances a few ticks slower than Beads, but that's to be expected when comparing a mile to the fastest trotting qualifier in harness racing history.
Love Muffin was an off-season acquisition of the Andy Miller Stable, and the sophomore daughter of Andover Hall returned to the qualifying sessions after a miscue in her pari-mutuel debut a week prior. Miller made every call a winning one with Love Muffin on Friday, tripping the timer in 1:53.
Julie Miller now trains Love Muffin, a seven-time winner as a freshman for trainer David Wiest.
Highly-regarded Captain Corey made his first appearance of the season for trainer / driver Ake Svanstedt, sitting patiently through the fractions of :28.4, :58 and 1:26.3 established by Ethics (Andy Miller) in third behind Type A (Yannick Gingras). Both Type A and Captain Corey angled out in the stretch, with Captain Corey showing the most late kick en route to a 1:54.1 score.
Captain Corey (Googoo Gaagaa - Luv U All) is owned by Svanstedt along with SRF Stable, Knutsson Trotting Inc., and Midnight Sun Partners Inc. of Florida. As a freshman, Captain Corey sported a 5-1-0 summary from seven starts with a mark of 1:53.3f and $331,638 in earnings.
Fire Start Hanover, last year's Dan Patch Award winner as two-year-old pacing filly of the year, made her sophomore debut on a winning note by getting up to defeat a stubborn Northern Storm (Andy McCarthy) by a neck in 1:52. Richard 'Nifty' Norman trains the daughter of Somebeachsomewhere - Fit To Frame for Pinske Stables, David Hoese and Lawrence Means.
A pair of Canadian-connected competitors were also impressive in victory. Last year's Battle of Waterloo winner Bettor Sun was a 1:54 winner for driver Ernie Hendry, trainer/owner Gregg McNair and co-owner/breeder Willow Oak Ranch.
James MacDonald is used to racing against pacing mare Bestseller Hanover, but on Friday the duo teamed up for a sharp 1:51.4 effort. Scott Blackler is handling the stateside training duties for owner Millar Farms.
To view the results from the Friday session of qualifiers, click the following link: Friday Results - Meadowlands (Qualifiers).