by Rich Fisher, for the Meadowlands publicity department

East Rutherford, NJ — It was almost as if fate dictated Frank Bellino should own Rock N Roll Heaven, who enters Saturday’s $1 million Meadowlands Pace as the morning line favorite.

“Last year, my son saw him on the Internet and liked him,” said Bellino, who owns horses with his two sons. “I called (trainer) Bruce Saunders about him and said ‘My son showed me a horse on the Internet; I really liked him, I’m interested in buying him.’”

Before Saunders could even act on it, he got a phone call.

“An hour later, the guy who owned him called Bruce and said he was for sale,” Bellino said. “Bruce went out there, sat behind him, called me back and said ‘Frank, this is a special horse.’ I said ‘Buy him.’

“I was sitting with my sons and they thought I was crazy because the horse hadn’t done anything yet. It’s pretty unbelievable the way it all happened.”

Lisa photo

Rock N Roll Heaven is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the Meadowlands Pace.

Now that it has happened, Bellino has the most impressive horse in his 18-year career as an owner. Rock N Roll Heaven has won 10 of 18 career races and earned $994,726. His wins include this year’s New Jersey Sire Stakes championship and Berry’s Creek, as well as last season’s New Jersey Sire Stakes title. He also won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes in 2009.

“No comparison,” he said. “I was looking for a really good 2-year-old, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime horse for me. This has been a dream of mine and for my family. As things go up and down in life you can have things go bad, but that minute and 50 seconds (racing) can be one of the greatest times of your life.”

And that’s coming from a guy who has had a pretty great life. Bellino founded his successful construction firm, Bellex Excavating, in the 1950s, and also owns Frank Bellino Real Estate, a commercial realtor, and has a 550-acre farm in Florida where he and his sons retire horses.

Growing up in Yonkers, Bellino couldn’t help but be exposed to racing at Yonkers Raceway. He caught the bug at an early age and got into the business in 1982.

“I always wanted to be a part of it,” he said. “When I was able to do it financially, we started out with claimers and have been in it ever since. We always wanted to get bigger in the business but there just wasn’t the right situation. When we got with Bruce, we hit a couple and Bruce really changed things for us.”

The Bellinos have had several successful horses over the years, including Southwestern Dream, a million-dollar winner in Psilvuheartbreaker, and Whispers Spy.

“Whispers Spy was really the horse that started it all for us,” Bellino said. “We bought him like, eight years ago. He was a high level conditioned horse, we sent him to a claimer and we lost him. But that’s what kicked it off for us. We bought Psilvuheartbreaker and that was a horse that really built the business for us.”

But they all take a backseat to Rock N Roll Heaven, who won his Meadowlands Pace elimination by 1-1/4 lengths over One More Laugh in 1:47.3 after a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the North America Cup. The horse has Saunders looking forward to Saturday.

USTA/Ellen Harvey photo

Bruce Saunders (center), trainer of Rock N Roll Heaven, talks with reporters from the Associated Press, Mike Farrell (left) and Tom Pedulla of USA Today (right) at the press conference for the race on Wednesday at Il Villagio Restaurant in Carlstadt, NJ.

“I’m happy to be able to draw my post position, I don’t have to sweat out where we line up in the starting gate,” the trainer said. “I was delighted with the way he raced on Saturday night. John (Campbell) did a great job; the horse appeared to be on top of his game. I hope he’s that good this Saturday, or even a little better.

“He missed the week before (last week). We cleaned up a couple issues and he seemed to be 100 percent Saturday night. Hopefully he’ll be a step or two better. He’ll need to be, this is a very tough bunch.”

If Saunders feels the horse is ready, Bellino takes his word for it.

“I believe in Bruce and believe in the horse,” he said. “I’m not nervous about being the favorite. We were the favorite up in the North America Cup, but had bad luck with the horse not feeling well. Bruce is honest; he said he scoped him and he wasn’t right. But when Bruce tells you the horse is right and ready, you know he is.”

Now it’s time to see how fate plays out.

The Meadowlands Pace will be carded as the eighth race on the Saturday card, with post time slated for 9:45 p.m. (EDT).

Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Line
1. Kyle Major, Jody Jamieson, Shawn Robinson, 15-1
2. Rockin Image, Yannick Gingras, Jimmy Takter, 3-1
3. Rock N Roll Heaven, John Campbell, Bruce Saunders, 5-2
4. Valentino, George Brennan, Lou Pena, 15-1
5. I’m Gorgeous, Andy Miller, George Teague, Jr., 12-1
6. Delmarvalous, Brian Sears, George Teague, Jr., 12-1
7. Nova Artist, Brian Sears, Lou Pena, 15-1
8. One More Laugh, Tim Tetrick, Ray Schnittker, 9-2
9. Fred And Ginger, Dave Palone, Ron Burke, 10-1
10. Sportswriter, Mark MacDonald, Casie Coleman, 6-1