Archangel Wins Yonkers Trot; Heston Blue Chip Takes Meadowlands Pace Elimination
Sunday, 08 July 2012 16:16
By Bill Heller
Just a half hour after Kenny Jacobs’ Heston Blue Chip won the second $50,000 Meadowlands Pace Elimination in 1:49, Peter Arrigenna’s Archangel captured the $445,594 Yonkers Trot wire-to-wire in 1:54 Saturday, cementing one of the greatest nights in the illustrious history of the New York Sire Stakes.
“The New York Sire Stakes is a program to be reckoned with,” Linda Toscano, who trains Heston Blue Chip for Jacobs, said Sunday afternoon. “They’re no longer second-string horses. These are Grand Circuit horses.”
She’s got a point. A week earlier, Jimmy Takter’s three-year-old filly pacer American Jewel equaled a World Record, winning the $250,000 James M. Lynch Memorial in 1:49 2/5 at Tioga Downs. Earlier this year, she set a world record when she won the $642,000 Fan Hanover Final at Mohawk Raceway in 1:48 2/5.
Jacobs, who watched the Yonkers Trot from the Meadowlands, said. “I was really proud of everybody. Peter is a very good friend of mine. It’s kind of nice to root for each other.”
In the second Meadowlands Pace Elimination, Jacobs rooted Heston Blue Chip home to a half-length victory over Thinking Out Loud, who’d won the $1.47 million Pepsi North American Cup in 1:47 4/5 at Mohawk Raceway in his last pari-mutuel start. Thinking Out Loud was the 5-2 second choice. Time To Roll, who was second in the North American Cup, went off the 9-5 favorite, and Heston Blue Chip, who benefitted from a perfect drive by Tim Tetrick, the 4-1 third choice from the two post.
Jacobs felt his colt had something to prove, even though he had won 15 of 17 starts with two seconds. “They gave us no credit,” he said. “They looked down at us as because we had raced on a half-mile track,” he said. “You can go 1:48 or 1:49 on the big tracks, but if you go a half in :52 on a half-mile track as a three-year-old, you’ve got a good horse. He did that on four turns. Two turns are much easier.”
There are no easy races with The Meadowlands Pace on the line. Tetrick worked out a beautiful pocket trip behind Time To Roll through fractions of :26 2/5, :54 and 1:22 1/5. “Tim’s a very good driver,” Jacobs said. Tetrick pulled the pocket at the top of the stretch and Heston Blue Chip went to work wearing down the front-running favorite by half a length in a lifetime best 1:49, a fifth of a second faster than Sweet Lou’s winning time in the first elimination. “This is the ultimate,” Jacobs said. “I had Kenneth J. He should have won the Meadowlands Pace four years ago. He got blocked.”
The format for The Meadowlands Pace Final is that the winners of each elimination gets to pick their post positions on Tuesday. “We get the first pick because we went faster,” Jacobs said. “I’m going to let Tim pick it.”
In the first division, Toscano-trained Bettors Edge, who won a division of the NYSS at Vernon Downs in his last start, got a nice trip from the rail with Tetrick driving, but couldn’t quite keep up late, finishing seventh. Only the top five qualified for the Final.
At Yonkers, Archangel, who is trained and co-owned by Arrigenna, was guaranteed a check. Only three other three-year-olds entered to take on the overwhelming favorite, Googoo Gaagaa, who was 10-for-11 lifetime and left from the rail.
Archangel, who had five straight victories including the $233,250 Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon Downs, drew the five post with Jim Morrill Jr. Bettors sent Googoo Gaagaa off at 1-5 and Stormin Normand and Archangel both 9-2.
Morrill left powerfully for the lead and had to work a bit to get past the favorite on the rail. But instead of taking the lead back, Corey Callahan let Googoo Gaagaa track Archangel in the pocket. After a :27 4/5 opening quarter, Googoo Gaagaa made a break. Later in the race, he broke again.
That left Archangel in charge and he opened his lead to two lengths on Stormin Normand through a first half in :56 4/5. Stormin Normand tried to close the gap, but Archangel continued on strongly through three-quarters in 1:25 1/5. Archangel kept right on trotting through the lane and held off Stormin Normand by a length and a half in 1:54 1/5.
The victory was Archangel’s ninth in 20 career starts with seven seconds and one third. His career earnings are over half a million dollars and climbing with the Hambletonian in his sight. Arrigenna said he has never even been to The Meadowlands, but it sure looks like he’s got the trotter to get him there in early August.
Asked if there has even been a greater night for New York Sire Stakes horses, Jacobs said, “I don’t think so.” Then he laughed, and added, “We showed all those New Jersey-breds we’ve got some nice horses in New York.”
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