Nine horses ranked in the top 15 of this week’s Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll will be in action, including Captaintreacherous, who races in the third of three Hempt eliminations for 3-year-old male pacers. Captaintreacherous was last season’s Pacer of the Year and is 3-for-3 this year after his win in the North America Cup over the weekend at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario.
The Ben Franklin, for older male pacers, attracted 20 entrants and was divided into three eliminations. The group includes Foiled Again, who was voted the sport’s best older male pacer each of the past two years, as well as last season’s top 3-year-old, Heston Blue Chip, and Franklin defending champion Betterthancheddar.
Golden Receiver (No. 6), Razzle Dazzle (No. 8), Pet Rock (No. 12) and Bolt The Duer (No. 13) are among the other top-rated horses in the Franklin elims.
Following is a brief overview of the eliminations for each of the four stakes. The finals will be held June 29.
BEAL MEMORIAL (3-year-old trotters)
First elim: Stakes-winners Aperfectyankee, Celebrity Maserati and Dontyouforgetit are among the Beal hopefuls as the drive to August’s Hambletonian Stakes intensifies. Celebrity Maserati won the Dexter Cup in May and is coming off a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes victory at Pocono Downs over Aperfectyankee, who won last year’s Peter Haughton Memorial. Dontyouforgetit has won divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Currier & Ives Stakes and was second in the Dexter Cup.
Second elim: Corky, who was last year’s New Jersey Sire Stakes champion and Peter Haughton runner-up, got his first win in five starts this year in Sunday’s Historic-Dickerson Cup at Tioga Downs. Stakes-winner Royalty For Life, who finished second in last season’s Breeders Crown, will be making his second start of 2013 as will last year’s Kindergarten Classic winner Banco Solo.
Third elim: Jurgen Hanover and Smilin Eli, who both are undefeated this year, are among the eight trotters hoping to reach next week’s final. Jurgen Hanover won the Bobby Weiss Series in April at Pocono Downs and most recently captured the Empire Breeders Classic to improve to 7-for-7 this season. New Jersey Sire Stakes champion Smilin Eli is perfect in three starts.
The top three finishers from each elimination advance to the $500,000 final.
LYNCH MEMORIAL (3-year-old filly pacers)
First elim: New Jersey Sire Stakes champion Ms Caila J Fra and runner-up Jerseylicious are among the seven fillies in the division. Jerseylicious won the Bobby Weiss Series at Pocono Downs in April, edging Shebestingin by a neck in the final. Shebestingin, a multiple-stakes-winner who has won eight of nine career starts, also is in this elim.
Second elim: Somwherovrarainbow, who was voted the sport’s best 2-year-old filly pacer in 2012, has won back-to-back starts in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes series after opening the season with a third-place finish behind Shebestingin in the Simpson Memorial. I Luv The Nitelife, who won last weekend’s Fan Hanover Stakes, and Charisma Hanover, who is unbeaten in five races this year, are among her rivals.
The top four finishers from each elim plus the fastest fifth-place finisher advance to the $300,000 final.
HEMPT MEMORIAL (3-year-old pacers)
First elim: Lonewolf Currier enters the race off a win in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes series and second-place finish in the Art Rooney Pace. Johny Rock is a stakes winner and was second to Rockin Amadeus in this year’s New Jersey Sire Stakes final. Word Power was unraced at age 2 and is 3-for-3 this year after winning two legs of the Summer Survivor Series at the Meadowlands.
Second elim: Wake Up Peter is winless in five races this year, but was third in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final and a fast-closing third in last weekend’s North America Cup. Martini Hanover and Beach Memories have both posted Pennsylvania Sire Stakes wins this season.
Third elim: Captaintreacherous will face challenges from seven rivals including Rockin Amadeus and Vegas Vacation. Rockin Amadeus won last year’s Breeders Crown and Vegas Vacation was undefeated in four races this season before finishing seventh in the North America Cup. Dedi’s Dragon missed by a nose against Captaintreacherous in last year’s International Stallion Stakes and is coming off a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes victory.
The top three finishers from each elimination advance to the $500,000 final.
BEN FRANKLIN PACE (Older male pacers)
First elim: The 8-year-old Golden Receiver won this year’s Presidential Series at the Meadowlands and has won 21 races and $1.13 million since the start of 2012. Betterthancheddar won nine of 11 races last season as a 4-year-old and debuted this year with a second-place finish in the Molson Pace before finishing fourth in the Roll With Joe. He was voted the best older male pacer in Canada last year.
Second elim: Heston Blue Chip won the Open handicap Sunday at Tioga Downs in a track-record 1:49.2 after opening his season with a third-place finish behind Dynamic Youth and Bettor’s Edge in a 4-year-old Open at the Meadowlands. Sweet Lou won this year’s Maturity at the Big M and Razzle Dazzle won the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series at Yonkers. A 6-year-old, Razzle Dazzle is approaching $1 million in lifetime purses. Fred And Ginger is this year’s fastest performer, with a 1:47.3 win to his credit.
Third elim: Foiled Again is the richest pacer in North American harness racing history with $4.89 million in purses. He is looking for his first stakes final win this year, but the 9-year-old has hit the board in eight of 10 starts