from the Meadowlands Media Relations Department

East Rutherford, NJ — The Saturday (June 9) Breakfast With The Babies, sponsored by Jules Siegel’s Fashion Farm, was conducted under perfect conditions on a clear, windless morning with temperatures in the 70s. The Meadowlands racetrack was rated as fast.

The Captaintreacherous colts were on display in a big way as a half-dozen well-bred colts from his first crop purchased last fall by Myron Bell’s consortium and trained by Tony Alagna positioned themselves on a course to advance the legacy of their champion sire and they did him proud.

Chris Tully photo

Shipshape was sent right to the front and faced no opposition as he cruised the oval in 1:54.2.

Shipshape (Brett Miller) was the first to go in race six, was sent right to the front and faced no opposition as he cruised the oval in 1:54.2 home in :27 in hand. The sharp looking Brittany Farms bred from Fresh Idea was a $175,000 Lexington purchase by Brittany, Marvin Katz, Brad Grant and Captain Trevor Racing.

Captain Ahab (Yannick Gingras) went virtually the same mile in the seventh, just a tick faster as he finished the mile in 1:54.1. He rolled off similar numbers and finished well in hand, holding off two other Captaintreacherous colts who followed him across the wire in Odds On Boca Raton (Scott Zeron) and Waterway (Brett Miller). All three are sons of Captaintreacherous and trained by Alagna. Captain Ahab’s owners are listed as Brittany Farms, Brad Grant, Vinnie Barbera and Captain Ahab Racing who paid $100,000 for him in Lexington. Brittany Farms bred this colt as well.

U S Captain closed the day on a high note for the team as he held off challengers on both sides at bay through a :27.1 end to a 1:55.2 mile. Gingras moved U S Captain to the front as they passed the half in :59.4, faced a stern rush from another Captaintreacherous in Latissimus Hanover (Tetrick) through a :28.2 third panel, then put that rival away and held Caviart Rockland (Marcus Johansson) off up the inside through the final strides. U S Captain is from the champion mare American Jewel and was also bred by Brittany who retained a piece of the colt with partners Brad Grant, Joe Barbera and U S Captain Racing. He was a $180,000 Lexington yearling purchase.

Trainer Joe Holloway also had a huge day with three impressive winners, all driven by Hall of Famer David Miller.

Trixton also impressed as the first crop sire and 2014 Hambletonian winner sired a few winners including Battenberg, a colt from Coffeecake Hanover who wowed the crowd with a 1:55.4 mile where he was in front by 10 to 15 lengths the entire way. He snapped from the gate quickly for David Miller and had seven on the field by the :28 quarter, continued through the half in :57.1 and 1:26.4 three-quarters before coasting home in :29 to win by 13 lengths. Holloway trains Battenberg for Crawford Farms Racing and Val D’Or Farms who gave $210,000 for him at last fall’s Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg. Millstream Stable bred the colt.

Holloway also sent out a Heston Blue Chip filly by the name of Zero Tolerance who zipped around the oval in 1:53.3 with an ultra-impressive :26.3 final quarter, absolutely flying in late stretch for Miller. She is a Winbak Farms bred $30,000 Lexington Selected Sale purchase by Val D’Or Farms and Ted Gewertz.

Trotting fillies opened the card and Starita, also by Trixton, was a convincing 1:58.2 winner for Miller. Starita went right to the front, set comfortable fractions and sprinted home in :27.4 under her own power. Mimi’spearloflindy (Mattias Melander) was second. Holloway trains the $50,000 Lexington Selected Sale graduate. Brittany Farms bred the filly for owners Val D’Or Farms and Gewertz.

Speed Titan, by another first crop sire in E L Titan, was an easy 1:58.1 winner for Marcus Melander in race two. She followed along behind Taja Mahala (Chuck Connor Jr.) as that one cruised through a 1:00.2 half and 1:29.3 three-quarters before Melander tipped her out and she charged by that rival to win by a widening 7-1/4 lengths. Taja Mahala held for second. Speed Titan was a $70,000 Lexington Selected Sale buy for Rick Wahlstedt from breeder Kjell Andersen.

Melander came right back in the third with the $225,000 Lexington Selected Muscle Hill colt Gerry, who cut the mile and moved away from the competition with a :28.1 end to his 1:57.3 mile. Osterc (Gingras) sat behind throughout and finished second. Gerry was bred by KG Bertmarks Hingstdepa AB and is owned by SRF Stable.

Live racing will take place Saturday night with an 11-race card beginning at around 7:15 p.m. with Justify chasing the Triple Crown in the Belmont at 7 p.m.