We seem to
be in the early stages of a changing of the guard on the pacing side.
Yagonnakissmeornot, the six-year-old soon to be a millionaire by The Panderosa
won the Chip Noble at Miami Valley on Sunday in wire to wire fashion, after
finishing second in the Blue Chip Matchmaker final. Carolsideal won four legs
of the Matchmaker and finished third in the final, while the Bettor’s Delight
mare, Venus Delight, won the Matchmaker. All this while last year’s co-winners
of the Dan Patch, Anndrovette and Rocklamation, have floundered. And last
year’s sophomore champ, Color’s A Virgin, was seventh in the Chip Noble.
Anndrovette’s
only win in her last thirteen starts is a F&M preferred at Yonkers.
Rocklamation won the Artiscape at Vernon Downs in early November, but that was
her only win in her last ten starts.
And on the
male side, Foiled Again, who recently had some minor corrective surgery that is
expected to turn him in the right direction, has lost his last eleven starts. Take
It Back Terry and P H Supercam, both successful participants in the Levy, are
one-two on the aged male pacer list. Sweet Lou is retired from racing; Bettor’s
Edge, Clear Vision and Dancin Yankee haven’t been very good; and Thinking Out
Loud just qualified. Unlike the situation with the distaff pacers, there is quite
a void on the male side. JK End, He’s Watching , McWicked and Miki better step
up and fill it. However, all four are missing from Sunday’s elimination lineup
for the Confederation Cup. Jug winner Limelight Beach and Messenger winner All
Bets Off are entered.
Maven has
lost all but one of her starts in Europe; she’s been victimized by bad luck in
the draw, but too many losses, nonetheless. Shake It Cerry, who was expected to
challenge in a tough aged division, has performed poorly in both 2015 starts.
Sunday, in the Miami Valley Distaff, she was ground down on the backside by
Daylon Miracle, who beat her last week in the Meadows Maturity, and she wound
up finishing sixth, behind the likes of Whata Donato and Dancehall
Mistress. Last year’s division champ,
Classic Martine, won at a generous 15-1 from the outside post. Outdoing the
division prima donnas seems to be her stock and trade.
Bee A
Magician, who drew the unlucky 13 post when she took on the boys in the
Hambletonian Maturity last year, finishing second, drew the 10 post in Saturday’s
TVG open/Cutler Prep. She beat a soft field of open boys in her season opener
from the outside at Yonkers the other night. She’ll have a decision to make
next week: Bee can continue to dance with the boys in the $175,000 Cutler on
Saturday, or race in the $40,000 first leg of the Ms Versatility at Mohawk, two
days later. Both races involve points that are banked toward eligibility for a
lucrative final, with the TVG final being quite a bit more lucrative.
“Stablemate,” the buxom Maven, is in Europe, making little money and earning no
points.
Market
Share, who finished third on the division money list, with low profile wins in
the Maxie Lee and the Dayton Trotting Derby, is entered in Saturday’s Cutler
Prep, but division winner, nine-year-old Sebastian K, and Maple Leaf and TVG
winner, six-year-old Intimidate, are passing on the Cutler. Father Patrick was
very strong in qualifying on Friday. He isn’t staked to the Cutler either;
he’ll no doubt start in the first leg of the Graduate at Tioga on Memorial Day.
Arch
Madness, Archangel and Trixton have retired. Nuncio is thriving in Europe, and
Creatine is also racing there. And Sevruga has lost his Mojo. If the
four-year-olds don’t step up, we’re counting on DW’s NY Yank, Melady’s Monet
and Wind Of The North.
Joe
FitzGerald
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