Who has a shot at beating Nikinsky in Meadowlands Pace?

Trenton, NJ — While stablemates Nijinsky and Legendary Hanover enter Saturday’s $650,000 Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-olds at The Meadowlands as the top choices on the morning line at 2-1 and 3-1, respectively, a number of other harness racing horses could be in the mix when it comes to chasing victory at The Meadowlands.

They include a quartet at odds of less than 10-1: Funtime Bayama (7-2), Mirage Hanover (9-2), Captain Albano (5-1) and Captain’s Quarters (8-1).

Funtime Bayama (He’s Watching-Tymal Sugrbabydoll) is in the mix just three weeks after Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and trainer Andrew Harris purchased him from Quebec’s Bayama Farms. The gelding was bought five days after taking third in the million-dollar Pepsi North America Cup.

He has hit the board in all 14 of his career races, winning eight and earning nearly $400,000.

Driven by Dexter Dunn, Funtime Bayama finished second to Nijinsky in their Pace elimination. Funtime Bayama raced from off the pace for the first time in a dozen starts and challenged Nijinsky in the stretch before falling three-quarters of a length short. Nijinsky’s 1:47.3 triumph equaled the fastest time ever in a Pace elimination.

“You can’t fault the effort; the effort was great,” Harris said. “It was a completely different drive than what the horse has ever gotten, so he showed versatility that way. To be honest, it’s not the trip I want to see, but it tells me that when we do get in sticky situations, we can change things up and we’ve got a horse for the course. That makes him the total weapon.

“(The trip) is just the way it goes sometimes. They were all smoking out of there and Dex wanted to keep him calm and cool, because once he started him up, he was going to be part of it.”

All things considered, Harris and Dunn were both “thrilled” with how Funtime Bayama raced. Harris planned on making a few slight tweaks for the final.

“I think he will be good for (this) week,” Harris said. “He raced gigantic. I think we’ll see a better horse because I don’t think that trip will hurt him. He had a helmet for five-eighths of the mile, so I think he’ll be all right there.

“The best trip is going to win these races. Nijinsky got to the front there and made the move that won the race. Tony Beaton (the trainer of Nijinsky and Legendary Hanover) had a fantastic night; I’m happy for those guys, but I’m pretty happy with where I’m sitting going into the final.”

Mirage Hanover (Bettor’s Delight-Mayhem Seelster) finished second to Legendary Hanover in his elimination after grabbing an early lead and maintaining that position into the stretch. Legendary Hanover paced his last quarter in :24.4 to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:48.

“I thought he raced very well,” trainer Jake Leamon said about Mirage Hanover. “It’s the first time he got to go on the front end this year, and he fended off (third-place finisher) Gem Quality pretty well. I don’t know if he could see the other horse (Legendary Hanover). We stretched him out good today. I think he’s better off a helmet.

“Now we get to tango with the big guys. We’ll see what happens.”

Mirage Hanover will be driven by Tim Tetrick, who can equal John Campbell’s record of seven Meadowlands Pace trophies with a win Saturday. Mirage Hanover has five top-three finishes in six races this year, winning two.

“He’s got a really efficient gait, just has no wasted motion,” Leamon said. “He’s extremely quick. He can get up to top speed in two steps. He’s just a really cool horse to be around.”

In looking over the field, Leamon said, “It’s going to be whoever gets the trip. I imagine that they’ll really mix it up.”

Captain Albano (Captaintreacherous-Angelou), a Dan Patch Award winner last year, finished third in the elim won by Nijinsky.  He got rough gaited in the stretch but regained his form to post his 13th top-three finish in 14 career races for trainer Noel Daley.

“He was pretty doubled-up and I had a lot of horse under me,” driver Todd McCarthy told DRF Harness’ Derick Giwner. “I started to tip him right to make my way to the outside of the two ahead of me and I think he might’ve given his knee a little brush or something.

“Because we were at such high speed he just got discombobulated and I really had to take a big hold of him so he could slow down and get his gait back. As soon as he hit his gait again, he took right off.”

Captain’s Quarters (Captaintreacherous-Prescient Beauty) finished fourth behind Legendary Hanover in his elimination. He came home in :24.4 and was beaten by two lengths.

“The fractions were in the favor of the front end, but we were pleased with the race overall,” trainer Herb Holland said. “These colts have to go so hard. We came :24.4 on the end tonight and finished fourth. That’s as fast as most can pace.

“I’m very happy with him. It’s a long year, and you can’t stretch them out every week and be hanging around at the end. We’re just trying to pick our spots and race him tough when we have to. He’s fresh and we haven’t stretched him out really hard.”

Captain’s Quarters, who finished second in the North America Cup, will have Jody Jamieson in the sulky. He counts last year’s Metro Pace among his four career wins in 10 races. No other Pace finalist has made fewer than 14 starts.

“He’s just got raw talent,” Holland said. “He can leave hard, he’s fast off a helmet, his versatility is just amazing. He was pretty green (last year) and we were late getting him to the gate, but it’s been really good. It’s nice having one like him in your barn.”

In assessing the race, Holland said, “I think there are four or five of them that are maybe a tad better than the rest. I think whoever gets the trip will be the first one at the wire.”

Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. (EDT) at The Meadowlands. For free TrackMaster programs for the Big M, click here.

Post time for the Meadowlands Pace, which is race 11 on the program, is 10:43 p.m. The race will air on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) as part of a show beginning at 8 p.m.

by Rich Fisher, for the USTA