East Rutherford, NJ — Apex, Marcus Melander’s millionaire trainee, stamped himself as a likely favorite for next week’s $1 million Grade 1 Hambletonian by way of a gutsy 1:50.4 win the first $100,175 elimination for the 101st edition of the classic for 3-year-old trotters on Saturday (Aug. 1) at the Meadowlands. Big Ranger delivered a statement win in the second elimination, leaving his nine foes well in his wake for a decisive 1:50 score.
After teaming Apex to wins in the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship and his division of the Grade 3 Stanley Dancer Memorial, Dexter Dunn floated the Walner-Mission Brief colt forward into midfield from post 7 as AI (driven by Yannick Gingras) split fellow leavers Captain Naughty (Jason Bartlett) and American Power (James MacDonald) to secure the lead through a :27.3 first quarter. Midway up the backstretch, Dunn angled Apex wide to flush Inexpressable (Scott Zeron) out from fourth, but Inexpressable charged ahead to clear the front at the :56.4 half-mile station, leaving Apex uncovered and 2 lengths off the lead with the toughest part of the race ahead of him.
“I knew it was going to be a tough mile no matter what we did with him,” said Dunn. “We got away in a pretty good position, but we were only in for a little bit and out the rest of the mile.”
Inexpressable threw down a :26.4 third quarter through the far turn, but Apex managed to gradually grind forward and sweep to the lead with 150 yards to go. Though Apex made easy work of Inexpressable, Endurance and Andy McCarthy posed a major threat down the grandstand side nearing the winning post after slipstreaming Apex’s cover on the far turn.
“I thought Andy was going to pass me late in the stretch (with Endurance), but [Apex] really dug deep and wanted to fight him off,” said Dunn.
Apex indeed proved up to the challenge, gamely parrying Endurance by a nose to record his ninth career win from 13 starts — and his third from just four tries this year — for the partnership of Jeffrey Snyder, SRF Stable and Steve Stewart.
American Power split foes to save third out of a failing pocket; Captain Naughty and AI rounded out the top five finishers.
“He’s got that winning attitude,” concluded Dunn. “I think he’ll probably be sharper next week, as well; he’d only had three starts this year, and this should tighten him up a bit.”
On the strength of a four-race win streak, Big Ranger entered his elimination as the 2-5 favorite, and Tim Tetrick sustained a measured move with him out of midfield to clear the front with nine-sixteenths to go after losing cover on the backstretch. Following a :55.3 half, Big Ranger braced for a first-over challenge from Nix Nacken (Dunn) on the far turn, and the pair drew 2-1/2 lengths clear of Magic Punk (Gingras) midway through the far turn.
Nix Nacken forced Big Ranger to throw down a :27.4 third quarter, but the In Range-Big Blue Bird colt still had a :26.3 kicker left in the tank. Big Ranger knocked three-fifths of a second off his lifetime mark with his victorious 1:50 effort and extended his record for trainer Anette Lorentzon to a perfect three-for-three after winning nine of his first 11 starts under the care of Ronnie Gillespie.
It Could Be Worse (Scott Zeron) emerged out of traffic to narrowly save second, 4 lengths in arrears, from Magic Punk; Spencer Hanover (Jason Bartlett) and Minoan (Andy McCarthy) rounded out the top five finishers.
“I was like, ‘This is a real horse,'” said Tetrick. “He impressed me from day one. He’s super smart, he’s got big lungs, he’s a real animal.
“He went under the wire strong, he was doing his work good. I got to sit behind horses on the first turn, and he settled good. When Yannick (Gingras) crossed over (to the lead with Magic Punk, before Big Ranger made his move), he bullied his way to the front, and when he got there, he relaxed. … He passed a lot of tests today.”
With his elimination win, Big Ranger passed the $500,000 mark in career earnings for owner Madison Global. He paid $2.80 to win.
The top five finishers from each elimination have earned berths to the Hambletonian final, which will take place next Saturday (Aug. 8). By virtue of their victories, Apex and Big Ranger are guaranteed to draw a post position between 1 and 6. The barrier draw will take place Tuesday (Aug. 4) at a luncheon at the Chateau Grande, in East Brunswick, N.J.