A pair of exceptional trotting fillies will prep in the opening qualifier, with Check Me Out starting from Post 6 and Miss Paris departing from Post 1.
Check Me Out, a three-year-old daughter of Donato Hanover-Illusion Bi who finished her rookie season on a six-race winning streak, is set to earn her first charted line of the season for trainer Ray Schnittker. The O’Brien Award-winning and Dan Patch Award-winning miss assembled a 14-2-0 record from 16 starts last year while banking close to $900,000 for Schnittker and partner Charles Iannazzo.
Miss Paris, a three-year-old daughter of Kadabra-Pizza Dolce, makes her first appearance of the year after stashing away more than $486,000 in earnings during her rookie season. The Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman-trained lass, who went 7-for-14 in 2011, capped off her initial campaign with a dominant performance in the $300,000 OSS Super Final for partners Mel Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee.
Cedar Dove, the winner of last year’s $500,000 Breeders Crown and the $291,000 Kentucky Filly Futurity, has drawn Post 2 in the tenth qualifier of Friday morning’s session. The Dan Patch Award-winning four-year-old daughter of Andover Hall-Pine For Her put together an impressive 7-for-17 record last season while adding more than $544,000 to a bankroll that now exceeds $732,000. Noel Daley trains the eight-time winner for Adam Victor And Son Stble of New York, NY and John Fielding of Toronto, ON.
Bettor Sweet will depart from Post 7 in Qualifier 15 for driver John Campbell, who guided the Tom Cancelliere-trained seven-year-old son of Bettors Delight-Sweet Future to a 1:48.4 score in last year’s $501,850 Breeders Crown Open Pace. The 22-time winner finished the year with an 8-for-24 record and seasonal earnings of $879,990. The career winner in excess of $2.2-million is owned by John Cancelliere of Clark, NJ.
Other notables schedule to face the starting gate on Friday morning are last year’s Battle of Waterloo winnerMachapelo, NYSS graduate Jezzy and Sweetheart winner Pirouette Hanover.
Friday’s qualifiers get underway at 10 a.m.