East Rutherford, NJ – Saturday morning (May 11) qualifiers at The Meadowlands were held under mostly sunny skies (the short-sleeved colors made their first appearance of the season), negligible wind and temperatures in the 60s, with the track rated fast as they began at 10 a.m.

Two trotting fillies, Evident Beauty (David Miller) and Beautiful Sin (Yannick Gingras), opened the card by crossing the wire together in hand, the mile in 1:58.4/:28.2. Both were making their second start, Red Mile Grand Circuit winner Evident Beauty appeared flawless for trainer Nifty Norman and owners Mel Hartman, Little E and R A W Equine while Beautiful Sin looked healthy after sustaining a serious tendon laceration that ended her freshman season prematurely.

Greenshoe clearly holds great promise with his remarkable speed but often authored his own undoing last season via his anxious temperament. Today was another triumph for the connections as Greenshoe looked more comfortable going to the gate.  Driver Brian Sears was able to settle the colt in third through slow fractions then got the response he wanted when the colt ground up uncovered and wore down a good colt in Super Schissel (Gingras) through a :27.1 end to a 1:55.1 mile. Great things may well be in store for owner Anders Strom (Courant Inc) and trainer Marcus Melander if they’re able to continue to harness the power of the enigmatic Father Patrick colt.

Ake Svanstedt unveiled the Swedish star Darling Mearas S this morning as the career winner of more than three quarters of a million dollars led at every call after early leader Commander Paris N broke at the quarter then held pocket sitter Pat Matters (Matt Kakaley) at bay in hand, the mile in 1:56.1/:27.4. Darling Mearas has been made eligible to the top U.S. stakes for mare trotters by owners Snogarps Stable.

With a stretch headwind beginning to pick up, The Veteran was a 1:53.4 winner this morning for his new connections. Mark MacDonald held the powerful 4-year-old Muscle Mass horse in third as Manchego (Scott Zeron) set fast fractions while appearing somewhat fresh before rolling off stride on the final bend. MacDonald had The Veteran marching up uncovered by then and he held off Ice Attration (Svanstedt) comfortably. Trainer Kelley owns him with SRF Stable, Winske and Michaels.

Odds On St Lucie (Matt Krueger) closed nicely to get the 1:54.3/:27.4 win today over Petticoat winner Catch an Ace (David Miller) and stablemate Wicked N Wonderful (Dexter Dunn).  Tony Alagna trains the winner for Odds On Racing.

Western Joe, winning the Sam McKee Memorial at The Meadowlands last August, won his qualifier Saturday morning at the Big M. Lisa Photo.

Western Joe (Zeron) is making his way back to the wars and took another step forward with a 1:52.2/:27.3 win from the pocket this morning over Limelight Beach (D. Miller), who finished third. He’s had two good Q’s back now for trainer Chris Choate and owners Anthony Ruggeri & Joe Tosies.

Sophomore colt pacers capped the card and Bettor’s Wish was an impressive out of the pocket winner for Dexter Dunn in 1:52.4/:27.3 clearing pacesetter Captain McKee (Tim Tetrick) by a 2-3/4 lengths at the end. Trainer Chris Ryder owns the sharp Bettor’s Delight colt with Bella Racing, Fair Island Farm and Ken Solomon.

The results are available on the web. Live racing resumes Saturday night (May 11) with first post scheduled at 7:15 pm.