by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

East Rutherford, NJ — Enough Talk, who was the Dan Patch Award winner as best older male trotter of 2008, and rival Arch Madness returned to the racetrack Thursday morning (March 12) at the Meadowlands.

Enough Talk won his qualifying race in 1:54.1 on Thursday morning.

Enough Talk, who last year won the Patriot Invitational at Colonial Downs in 1:49.3 to become the only trotter in history to race a mile in less than 1:50, and Arch Madness took their first strides toward this season’s campaign by squaring off in a qualifier.

Enough Talk, driven by Ron Pierce for trainer Peter Kleinhans, won by two lengths over Arch Madness in 1:54.1, with the back half in :55.4 and final quarter-mile in :27 seconds.

“It was good,” said Kleinhans, who co-owns the 6-year-old Enough Talk with Jerry Silva. “Ron said he was a little bit on the right line and it got a little worse as it went along. That’s been a little bit of a bugaboo for him for a while, but it’s not bad. I was happy with how it went.”

Last year, Enough Talk won nine of 21 races and earned $851,865. His victories included the American-National and Oleg Cassini Invitational. He is scheduled to begin his campaign on March 20 in the first round of the Su Mac Lad Series at the Meadowlands.

Arch Madness was second in his ’09 debut, two lengths back of Enough Talk.

Arch Madness, trained by Trond Smedshammer, was a model of consistency as a 4-year-old in 2008, winning three times and finishing no worse than second in nine of 11 starts. His top triumph came in the Maple Leaf Trot, where he defeated Enough Talk by 2-1/2 lengths. He was second in the Breeders Crown, Nat Ray, Classic Series, Titan Cup and Allerage.

“You’ve got to expect him to step it up a notch from 4 to 5; you would think so with his breeding and how he developed physically,” said Smedshammer, who drove Arch Madness in the qualifier. “He’s going to qualify back next week and we’ll see if we go in the second leg of the Su Mac Lad, or not. He’s very heavy. He grew quite a bit over the winter and filled out a lot. He’s huge.

“This was the second time he’s been in the race bike. He trained in (1):58 last week and went in (1):54(.3) today. That’s it. Even if we race him in the second leg of the Su Mac Lad, there’s not a lot of pressure on him. If we don’t make the finals, we’ll go in the first leg of the Classic.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photos

Falls For You was second by a nose to BV’s Sister in their qualifying race on Thursday.

Trotting mare Falls For You, who won the Armbro Flight last year and is also trained by Smedshammer, finished second by a nose to BV’s Sister in 1:56.4 in her first qualifier of the new season.

“It was OK. She’s still heavy and a little sluggish,” Smesdhammer said. “She doesn’t have to race until April 6; I’m starting probably a week earlier with her than I had to. She hasn’t been trained up to be more than OK. The same thing with (Arch Madness).”

Kelly’s Keepsake, who won the 2007 American-National for 2-year-old filly pacers and was second in last season’s Am-Nat for 3-year-old fillies, won her second qualifier for trainer Erv Miller and driver Andy Miller. She won by 3-3/4 lengths over Kennans Kelli in 1:56.3.