from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — When it comes to post position draws, bad luck has haunted Boulder Creek, who leaves from post 10 in Saturday night’s $700,000 William R. Haughton Memorial Final, the seventh race at the Meadowlands.

Boulder Creek, driven by leading driver Ron Pierce, is rated 10-1 in the morning line in harness racing’s richest event for older pacers.

“I’m not very happy today,” trainer Mark Silva said after he saw the outcome of the draw. “The law of averages was on his side going into this week.

“In the Meadowlands Pace last year, he had post 10 (finishing eighth at odds of 49-1),” Silva recalled. “In the Aquarius this year he had the outside again (post eight, finishing second at 8-1). Then in the Graduate he had the eight again (third at 20-1).

“I thought before the draw I was third best behind Four Starzzz Shark and Life Source,” he said, referring to the two elimination winners. “Now I don’t know. He’s entering the final as good or better than ever. He had a little break and freshened up some. Ron Pierce gave him a great trip last start. He kept him covered up until late, let him pace and he finished very strong. It set him up great for this final, but now with the outside post, I don’t know.”

Boulder Creek comes into the Haughton Final with three wins, six seconds and four thirds, earning $214,815 this year toward a career bankroll of $805,771. He captured the $100,000 Hoosier Invitational on May 29. The four-year-old gelded son of Pacific Rocket races for New Yorkers Cliff Siegel, Lee Wasserman and John Fodera.

Another trainer unhappy about post position is Bill Popfinger, who sends out Mini Me. The five-year-old is winless in eight starts this year and facing post nine in the Haughton Final.

“The post position stinks,” said Popfinger, who will turn the lines over to David Miller. “He’ll need a lot of luck from there, some help. Adding Lasix (since June 26 for treatment of respiratory bleeding) didn’t hurt him any. It seems to have helped some.”

Mini Me trailed Four Starzzz Shark in that pacer’s world record 1:47⁴ performance in the first of two Haughton elims last week. Four Starzzz Shark, the even money favorite in the final, leaves from post two. Four Starzzz Shark’s time set a record for older pacers and was one-fifth of a second off the all-age track and race record of 1:47³, established by Jenna’s Beach Boy in the 1996 Haughton, then called the Driscoll. In the other elim, Life Source set an older gelding track and world record of 1:48, shared with Eaton Road Kill.

Mini Me, racing for the Illinois ownership of Robert and Linda Grider and Roger and Dawn Samson, has $1.1 million in career earnings but only $51,150 generated in 2004 with two seconds and two thirds to his credit.

“He came out of last week’s race very well,” said Popfinger. “It’s a big race, and you have to be in it. Right now he’s as good as he’s been at any time this year.”

The two elimination winners, Four Starzzz Shark and Life Source, are eligible for a 10 percent bonus. If either also wins on Saturday, his connections will receive 10 percent of the final purse of $700,000 and the remaining 90 percent will be distributed 50 percent to the winner, 25 percent to second, 12 percent to third, eight percent to fourth and five percent to fifth. If neither wins, the same distribution will take place for 100 percent of the purse.

In accordance with New Jersey Racing Commission rules applied to stakes with purses of $500,000 or more, there will be no coupled entries in the Haughton Final.

Originally called the Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, the race was renamed in 1999 to honor Hall of Famer William R. Haughton, a harness racing legend regarded for his outstanding career on the racetrack and his dedication and service to his sport.

Headlining a weekend rich in stakes action, the W.R. Haughton Memorial shares the spotlight on Saturday night with 23 colts and geldings in three $50,000 eliminations for the Meadowlands Pace. The $1 million Meadowlands Pace Final will be held the following Saturday, July 17.

The field for the $700,000 W.R. Haughton Memorial Final (in post position order with driver, trainer and morning line odds): Art’s Chip, Brian Sears, Joseph Poliseno, 15-1; Four Starzzz Shark, Mike Lachance, Dave Sabatelli, Even; Life Source, Cat Manzi, Richard J. Banca, 4-1; Royal Mattjesty, John Campbell, Michael Langdon, 15-1; Peruvian Hanover, Jim Morrill, Jr., Noel Daley, 12-1; Allamerican Captor, Luc Ouellette, Virgil Morgan, Jr., 25-1; Camcracker, Dan Dube, Mark Harder, 25-1; Luckyisasluckydoes, George Brennan, Mark Harder, 12-1; Mini Me, David Miller, Bill Popfinger, 6-1; and Boulder Creek, Ron Pierce, Mark Silva, 10-1.

Perspectives on the Pace – a look at some of the entrants

With 23 entrants for 10 spots in next week’s $1 million Meadowlands Pace Final, the battles in this Saturday’s trio of $50,000 elimination races at the Meadowlands are bound to be intense.

Only the top three finishers and the fastest fourth place colt will advance to the nation’s richest race for three-year-old pacers on July 17.

Village Hero N, who drew the rail in the fifth race, the last of the three elims, holds the distinction of being the first New Zealand-bred horse in the Meadowlands Pace.

“There was never a Down Under horse in the North America Cup either,” noted Richard Silverman, who drives the Village Jasper gelding owned by Annette Hunter of Weston, Connecticut. “I’m excited. I think he has a good chance. I’m happy with my spot (the rail). I think he drew into a good division, and I like my chances. There are some competitive horses, and I feel I’ve got one of them. He’s fresh. He’s not had a lot of work, and he’s a handy horse. That’s real big at this level.”

Village Hero has four wins, three seconds and one third in 15 starts this year, earning $71,602 toward a career bankroll of $100,942.

He won his division of the Burlington at Woodbine and was second in his North America Cup elim, but finished ninth in the $1.1 million final on June 19. Since then, he qualified at the Meadowlands on July 2.

“He just didn’t put forth a good performance, no excuses,” Silverman said of the North America Cup. “He just didn’t have it. He seems very good right now, and I hope to get into the Pace Final, and hope he does better in that.

“He didn’t get a lot of work before his qualifier last week,” noted Silverman, whose father, Jerry, trains Village Hero. “I was quite happy with how he went. He’s been digging into his feed tub all week. I’ll have him ready and tuned up for the Pace elim.”

Racing fans in New Zealand will be able to watch and wager on Village Hero if he qualifies for the Meadowlands Pace Final. Global Harness Racing will televise the races from the Meadowlands for three consecutive Saturdays (Sundays in New Zealand), starting July 17.

Southland TV’s Channel 90 will present the races, produced and anchored by Sheldon Murtha, and wagering will be available through New Zealand’s TAB.

North America Cup winner Mantacular also drew into the third elimination and will leave from post four with Cat Manzi driving.

“When I heard he worked in 1:55 at Vernon, I couldn’t believe it,” said Manzi. “He’s the type of colt who needs to be around horses. But then I realized it was from behind the starting gate, so that helped. Some people think that his Cup win was a fluke, but he’s got good lines and as a two-year-old beat all the top horses. If you look at his record, you see this colt is improving and always seems to give a good account of himself. I think he’ll do it again this week and get into the final.”

Panspacificflight (post seven), Metropolitan (post one) and Brandon’s Cowboy (post two) are among the top contenders in the third race, the second of the three eliminations.

“He is doing good,” reported trainer Brian Magie of Panspacificflight, who qualified on July 2 at the Meadowlands in 1:52², last quarter in 26². “I’m very pleased with how he went in the qualifier. Luc (Ouellette) liked him a lot. He never popped the (ear) plugs. He beat Whatanartist, a horse who’s heading to the Breeders Crown. This colt is doing well and is in a good frame of mind. He went a few big miles in Canada. So he wasn’t hard used in his qualifier. We probably would have been happy just to sit and finish third there, but he wanted to go by horses. That’s a good sign.”

Metropolitan is coming along well for trainer Chris Ryder. “He is quite the versatile colt, very bright and playful,” said Ryder. “But I can’t leave him out in the field too long. He’ll run and run and run. He won’t stop until I bring him in. Same way with him eating, I have to keep an eye on his weight. He has a tendency to eat a lot and want more, so I monitor that closely. But I’d say he’s pretty much where I want him to be right now.”

Brandon’s Cowboy, second to Metropolitan in a 1:51¹ qualifier on July 2, is trained by Mark Ford. “I’m very happy with his qualifier last Friday,” said Ford. “The trip to Windsor (for the Provincial Cup in May) cooked him pretty good. He got to running in a little, and I had to make some adjustments. I wish we had a prep race last week, but what can you do. He had a little break, which helped him. We’ll be out there doing the best we can to get into the final.”

Ivan Sugg, who campaigned 2003 Horse of the Year No Pan Intended, has The Preacher Pan in this year’s Pace elims (fifth race, post seven). “I got him back Tuesday early in the morning,” noted Sugg. “I got him ready in Florida before he went to Canada. He’s holding his own, but hasn’t done anything yet to get too excited about. You can’t go first up with him. He’s the kind of horse who likes to follow along, so we’ll just have to see how it goes. I do expect him to improve as the year goes along.”