Saunders bullish on Manolete

Manolete (Cattlewash) is still in the early stages of his harness racing career, but trainer Bruce Saunders has already found a lot to like about the freshman male pacer as he prepares to send the colt to his $150,000 New Jersey Classic final Friday at The Meadowlands.

In five starts so far, Manolete has been worse than second only once. He won two preliminary rounds of the New Jersey Sire Stakes series and finished second in the final on Aug. 22 at the Big M, where he lost by a head after being part of an early battle for the lead that resulted in a :53.4 opening half-mile.

Manolete also had a second-place finish in the second leg of the Kindergarten Classic Series at The Meadowlands in early July, when he missed by a neck.

On Friday, he will leave from post two with Todd McCarthy in the sulky. He is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line.

“He may be the smartest 2-year-old I’ve ever been around,” Saunders said about Manolete, who is owned by M And L of Delaware and M & M Harness Racing. “I think he’s a very flexible and unique horse for a 2-year-old. You can stop and start him. You can use him early, you can use him in the middle, you can use him late. You can race him on the front end, you can race him from behind. I think Todd has a lot of options.

“He’s a very good horse, there’s no question about that.”

Manolete, a son of Cattlewash-Glancewithme, was purchased for $52,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale. His family includes Fresh Breeze, the mother of the sport’s current No. 1-ranked horse, Twin B Joe Fresh, as well as Grand Circuit winners American Ideal and Make A Success. His fourth dam is Hall of Famer Three Diamonds, the mother of Hall of Famer Life Sign.

After beginning his career with a sixth-place finish in the first leg of the Kindergarten, Manolete has either won or been knocking on the door.

“We’re very happy to have a horse of this quality, and a horse that shows up and does his job every week,” Saunders said. “We can’t ask for more than that.”

Manolete has raced only once since July 26. The NJSS championship, originally slated for Aug. 2, was postponed to Aug. 22 because of severe weather and a power outage, and the New Jersey Classic did not require eliminations last week.

“I would have preferred to race last week in eliminations, but he’s a very good horse and knows how to take care of himself,” Saunders said. “I don’t think it really matters how we train him, he comes to work prepared to do his job. I’ve got complete confidence in him.”

Captain Optimistic is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the New Jersey Classic for 2-year-old male pacers. The son of Captaintreacherous-Cinamony has three wins and a second in four races this season for trainer Nancy Takter and driver Yannick Gingras. He will leave from post five.

The field also includes Papis Pistol (Papi Rob Hanover-Bang Bang), who upset Captain Optimistic by three-quarters of a length in a conditioned race last week, as well as New Jersey Sire Stakes champ McCusker (Cattlewash-Robocall Hanover) and NJSS third-place finisher Tom Horn (Cattlewash-Dancinwiththestarz).

“As we’ve watched many times in a horserace, anything can happen, but I’m very confident in my horse,” Saunders said. “I think they’re all pretty much good horses, but I wouldn’t trade Manolete for any 2-year-old on any night that I’ve seen yet. It’s going to be an exciting race. I just hope for the same amount of racing luck that everybody else has. No more, no less.”

The New Jersey Classic for freshman male pacers is one of eight finals for 2- and 3-year-old pacers and trotters Friday at The Meadowlands. The finals for pacers go for $150,000 and the finals for trotters go for $250,000.

My Sweet Lily (Sweet Lou-Mimi’s Lily) is the 5-2 favorite in the final for 2-year-old female pacers while Rocket Deo (Captaintreacherous-Rocklamation) gets the 4-5 nod among 3-year-old female pacers and Wish You Well (Bettor’s Wish-Where’s Alice) is the 8-5 choice among 3-year-old male pacers.

Hambletonian Oaks winner Warrawee Michelle (Walner-Sound Check) is the 6-5 favorite in the Classic for 3-year-old female trotters while Earl Beal Memorial champ Sig Sauer (Muscle Hill-Sigilwig) is the 4-5 fave among the sophomore boys. Lady Landia (Tactical Landing-Seventimesalady) is the 2-1 favorite for 2-year-old female trotters and Hidalgo (Muscle Hill-Brooklyn) is the 2-1 choice among the freshman male trotters.

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

For complete race entries, click here: US Trotting entries.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA