Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Jim Campbell never questions Broadway Bistro’s effort. Now, the 3-year-old trotting colt might be putting together the physical tools to match his attitude.

Bred and raced by Arlene and Jules Siegel, the son of Broadway Hall-Nadine Angus last weekend won his elimination race for Saturday’s $670,774 Yonkers Trot. Broadway Bistro, driven by Jason Bartlett, won by a length over Calchips Brute in 1:58.1. Citation Lindy and Truth In Action also advanced to the final, which is the second jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown. Muscle Hill, who won the first jewel, the Hambletonian, did not enter the Yonkers Trot.

“He’s been a real honest horse all along,” Campbell said. “He’s a big, strong, real good gaited colt and he’s just got a great attitude. He gives you every effort that he can.”

Broadway Bistro was fifth in the Townsend Ackerman at the Meadowlands on August 7 and second in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows on July 23. He won a division of the sire stakes on June 12 at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, stopping the timer in a lifetime-best 1:54.3.

Mike Lizzi photo

Broadway Bistro won his Yonkers Trot elimination in a time of 1:58.1.

“He went a really good race here at the Meadowlands a couple weeks ago; he got locked in, but he had a lot of trot,” Campbell said. “He’s just had little problems this year with his feet. His feet were a little sore after his race here at the Meadowlands, so we skipped the Colonial (at Harrah’s Chester on August 16). He acted real good, so we put him in the Yonkers Trot and he didn’t disappoint us. I believe he can compete at this level.”

For the year, Broadway Bistro has won two of eight starts and earned $62,332. Lifetime, he has won four of 17 races and $126,890 in purses. He was third in last year’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship, behind Braggart and NF Quotable.

“He had a few physical problems (last year),” Campbell said. “Nothing major, but they just seemed to bite him. And he was a big growthy colt. This year he’s filled into himself. I kept telling Mr. Siegel last year that this colt was going to get better as the year went on. But he went through a growing spurt and never stopped growing. I believe he’ll get better (this year) as the year goes along.”

Broadway Bistro’s race last weekend at Yonkers was his first around a half-mile oval, but he had fared well on five-eighth-mile tracks, hitting the board 10 of 12 times.

“He’s such a good gaited colt, I would have been very surprised if he had a problem with the half,” Campbell said. “I’d have to say it’s to his advantage because he’s good gaited and trots the turns good. If he draws a decent post and everything is set with him, I know he’ll go out and give us a good race.”

The press conference and draws for the Yonkers Trot and the $327,885 Hudson Filly Trot will be at noon Wednesday.

There Goes The Judge: The other Yonkers Trot elimination was won by New York standout Judge Joe, who triumphed by a neck over Select Yankee in 1:58.3. Judge Joe, who has won 13 of 21 career races and earned $503,855 for the Doug Ackerman Stables, was sold on August 20 to Mario Zuanetti’s Atlantic Trot Inc. for an undisclosed amount. He will race for trainer Jimmy Takter beginning with the Yonkers Trot final.

Also advancing from the elim were Neighsay Hanover and Celebrity Athena.

Brute Force: If one was to watch Calchips Brute in the paddock prior to a race, he might figure the horse was more likely to fall asleep rather than compete. Once on the track, though, Brute more resembles his name.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Calchips Brute with caretaker Javier Perez at White Birch Farm in Imlaystown, N.J.

“He’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” said Jerry Giuliano, the husband of breeder/owner Diane Giuliano. “If you see him before a race, it looks like he’s taking a nap. It’s like he’s in a trance. And he’s the sweetest horse; it’s almost like petting a dog. But once he steps on the track he gets his game face on. He’s ready to go and he always gives a hundred percent. I love that.”

Calchips Brute has won $368,748 this year for the Giulianos despite tough luck when it comes to the draw. The colt has drawn outside posts for a number of races this season — post No. 5 was his best starting spot in his last seven races — but has hit the board in 10 of 12 starts this year.

Prior to the Yonkers Trot elims, Calchips Brute was third in both the $500,000 Colonial and the $1.5 million Hambletonian.

“He’s a hell of a horse,” said Giuliano, who is the CEO of Cal-Chip Electronics, based near Philadelphia. “He’s a blue-collar horse. I’ve got the Bruce Springsteen of racehorses. I’m looking forward to (the Yonkers Trot). I think he’s got a great shot.”

Although Diane Giuliano thought highly of Calchips Brute from the time of his birth, the horse almost ended up in someone else’s barn. He was sold at auction as a yearling, but Diane Giuliano got her husband to buy him back.

“My wife fell in love with the horse; I had no choice,” Giuliano said with a laugh. “I had to make the guy an offer he couldn’t refuse. But that women’s intuition paid off again. She was right.

“He’s the best horse I’ve had by far.”

She’s A Lady: Celebrity Athena finished fourth in her Yonkers Trot elimination as she attempts to become the first filly to win the event since Continentalvictory in 1996. Staffan Lind trains the filly, who has won five of 21 career races and earned $168,515, for Celebrity Farms.

“She possesses a lot of speed, that filly,” Lind said recently. “I’ve never trained a horse that can get around a half like she does. Compared to other horses I think it (the half-mile track) helps her.”

Earlier this year, Celebrity Athena won a division of the Zweig Memorial Filly Trot at Tioga Downs and was runner-up in a division of the Delvin Miller Memorial at the Meadowlands.

“She actually is one of the few horses that has speed at both ends (of the mile) so she can leave and she can finish a race,” Lind said.