Racing at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows has rolled into the month of June, which means two things: we’re moving deeper into the Stakes schedule and two-year-old qualifiers are upon us. The Stakes schedule has seen the Currier and Ives Stakes for three-year-old trotters take place in the first half of June, which will pave the way for a large wave of two-year-old Sire Stakes at the end of June and throughout July and August. The end of July will also see the signature day of racing at the Meadows on July 27 when the Adios Pace, Adioo Volo, and several other stakes take center stage. The three-year-old pacing division had their first major battle this past Saturday at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Canada as NIJINSKY came out on top in a very competitive North America Cup. Last year’s North America Cup winner, ITS MY SHOW, made an appearance in the Adios Pace, so there is always the possibility that some of the North America Cup contenders of this past weekend could make their way to the Meadows next month.
Regarding those two-year-old qualifiers, there were 17 of them last Tuesday at the Meadows in a marathon qualifying day that started at 10:30 am. Over the course of the day, 106 two-year-olds got to showcase their talents on the track and three that stood out in particular were LEW HAUBER, RICK WINK, and WESLYNN WARRIOR. LEW HAUBER (two-year-old colt pacer) was part of the 13th qualifying race of the morning, which went in 1:56.3, by far the fastest of the session. Chris Page and LEW HAUBER did it all the way on the front end for trainer Ron Burke, who had six qualifying winners on the day. Alternatively, RICK WINK (two-year-old colt pacer), also for Page and Burke, did it from well off of the pace in the 9th race, gaining eight lengths on the field in the back half of the mile and kicking in: 27.1. Finally, WESLYNN WARRIOR (two-year-old gelding trotter) seemed to do it pretty comfortably for Anthony Macdonald and trainer Tim Twaddle, cruising to an eight-length win in the morning’s 6th race. Two-year-old qualifiers will continue for some time to come and you can catch all the action on the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association Facebook page live or via replay on the YouTube channel.
The Thursday race card this week at the Meadows (June 20) kicks off with a rather interesting early daily double sequence that includes the filly and mare open handicap pace (Race 1) and a two-year-old filly trot for eight first-time starters (Race 2). In the filly and mare open handicap pace, #5 FIGHTING EVIL missed a few weeks due to a couple of scratches but returned with a strong win last week from an outside post. She moves up in class to this open spot, but has been having a strong year and will look to build on her most recent win. #6 HOLI STARZZZ A has had a couple of tough trips so far here in North America out at Northfield and can win in this spot, but is worth taking a chance against as the morning line favorite. In Race 2, #2 GREEN GLITTER would appear to be the most likely winner based on her two qualifying wins so far and she seems to have some gate speed to go with her inside post draw. While a lot of different things can happen in a two-year-old race this early in the year, she seems like a solid choice to finish off the early daily double. For those looking to play an exacta in the second race, #6 DOUGH DROPS could be worth a look underneath as she appeared to finish off her qualifier pretty well last week.