by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

East Rutherford, NJ — Shake It Cerry went the fast and easy way around the track to win the $321,700 Merrie Annabelle Trot for 2-year-old trotting fillies on Saturday afternoon at Meadowlands Racetrack in a track record time of 1:53.3.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

The winning connections of Shake It Cerry following a 1:53.3 track record performance in the Merrie Annabelle Trot.

With Ron Pierce driving. Shake It Cerry (Donato Hanover-Solveig) was first to the lead at the :28.3 first quarter with Lifetime Pursuit (Yannick Gingras) behind them. Those two led the field to the :56.4 half and the 1:25.2 three-quarters.

The full sister to Hambletonian contender Dontyouforgetit had a momentary challenge at the head of the stretch from stablemate Lifetime Pursuit, but that one, coming up the inside path, could not advance and Shake It Cerry won by a length. Cee Bee Yes (Andy Miller) was third.

Jimmy Taker trains both the first and second place finishers. The filly is owned by Solveig’s Racing Partners, which includes Jimmy’s wife, Christina.

“Having two amazing fillies like those two is a great thrill,” said Takter. “Both of these fillies have been standing out in my eyes the last six or seven weeks here. Solveig was a great horse that John (Fielding) and I owned and she’s named after my mother and Shake It Cerry is actually named for my sister.”