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.
A star-studded group of Standardbreds qualifying at The Meadowlands on Saturday (April 17) was joined by Canada s reigning driver of the year, Bob McClure.
McClure told Dan Ralph of the Canadian Press that he was asked to drive stateside by Team Determination and trainer Luc Blais, and he ll be vaccinated for COVID-19 within five hours of entering the U.S.
“It wasn’t an option to just shut down because they have grand circuit horses that are going to compete with the American-breds all summer.and you can’t just let the American horses get a month head start,” said McClure. “They have to be race-ready and that takes racing.