Trainer Dr. Ian Moore has a one-two punch set to fire in the cavalcade of stakes action slated for The Meadowlands on Saturday (July 17).
In the evening’s big event, the $700,000 Meadowlands Pace, Dr. Moore will send O’Brien Award winner Lawless Shadow to post with Mark MacDonald driving following a headstrong second-place finish by a neck to Southwind Gendry in the elimination.
“He was all revved up,” Moore told
Trot Insider of the noticeable hold first-time driver Mark MacDonald had on the horse. “I told Mark [to] put him on the gate. I guess Mark sat a little off [the gate] and he was wanting to go. He had quite a hold of him. He’s all excited [for the final] – he texted me at about two o’clock in the morning with the draw list,” continued Moore. “We drew pretty decent and he likes our chances, and I guess I do too.
A number of high-profile Standardbreds made solid strides toward a return to the races during the Saturday (April 24) session of qualifiers at The Meadowlands.
Calle Palema (Ake Svanstedt) was a wire-to-wire winner in 1:56.1 over 2020 freshman standouts Zenith Stride (Brian Sears) and In Range (Tim Tetrick). The gelded son of Muscle Hill - Fillyanthropy, a three-time winner as a rookie, took a new lifetime mark for owner Bender Sweden Inc. of Vero Beach, Fl.
Balenciaga didn t make any starts at two, but the $270,000 yearling started on the path to justifying that price tag with a first-over grinding win in 1:56.3. The son of Chapter Seven - Iluvmyjimmychoos was guided to victory by Scott Zeron for trainer Paul Kelley and owners SRF Stable and Crawford Farms. Maverick, harness racing s highest priced yearling by virtue of his $1.1 million sale price, made a break in stride while closing in the stretch.