by Ken Weingartner and Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Erv Miller hopes Foreign Officer is ready to take command. The 3-year-old pacer, driven by George Brennan, won his elimination for Saturday’s (May 8) $225,000 Berry’s Creek by a head over Four Starz Trace in 1:49.4 on May 1 at Meadowlands Racetrack. Miller’s Europan Union was second in the other elim, beaten a half-length by Kyle Major in 1:50.

Last year, Foreign Officer won two of seven races and earned $67,120. This season, he debuted with a fifth-place finish in an overnight at the Meadowlands before winning his Berry’s Creek elimination.

Lisa photo

Foreign Officer stopped Four Starz Trace by a head in 1:49.4 in their Berry’s Creek elimination.

A son of Western Ideal out of the mare Allamerican Coco, the colt was purchased as a yearling for $200,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale. Allamerican Coco is a half sister to Breeders Crown champ All Speed Hanover and stakes-winner Allamerican Coed. Foreign Officer’s great-grandmother, Cool World, was the mother of superstar pacing mare Eternal Camnation.

“He’s a really nice horse,” Miller said. “He’s got a really big gait. The owners were happy to let us put him away (after seven starts last year), which ended up working out great for us. I think you’ll see him. He’s going to get better; he seems like that kind of (stakes) horse; he’s got a lot of talent and has a good head on him. He’s smart about what he does.”

Foreign Officer’s first qualifier this year resulted in a second-place finish, but might have taken some wind from his sails. He finished in 1:51.4, pacing the final quarter-mile in :26.2 seconds.

“Right out of the box he went a big heat and I think it might have been a touch much for him,” Miller said. “The next week he was just OK, but I didn’t think he was quite himself. He showed a lot of talent training. The first start he was kind of the same way. He got a good cover trip and should have exploded off cover, and he wasn’t quite the same.

“We checked his blood and it was just a little off, so we treated that, and he bounced back.”

Europan Union, driven by Andy Miller, won two of seven races last year and earned $15,630. This year, he has won three of nine starts and hit the board in every race. The son of No Pan Intended-Pansatlantic has earned $57,680.

“He’s been getting better every start,” Miller said. “Last year, he trained like a great horse; he really did his work well and everything. But then as soon as went to race him, he just didn’t race the way he trained. It was the same every week.

“We gelded him at the end of last year. Ever since we did that his attitude has been perfect. He gets the job done. He’s consistently been very good. He’s a big, strong colt; heavy boned colt. I think we’ll see him jump up a little more here and there. I thought he went a big heat (in his Berry’s Creek elimination) because he was parked the whole mile. He had good pace late.”

Foreign Officer is eligible to the C$1.5 million North America Cup in June and the $1 million Meadowlands Pace in July. For now, Miller is focused on the Berry’s Creek.

“I think they’ll both be even better this week, especially Foreign Officer,” he said.

Rock-y Road

Rock N Roll Heaven, one of last year’s top 2-year-olds, with nearly $600,000 in earnings and a stakes win in the Bluegrass and runner-up in the Metro Pace, got a long look at this year’s competition this past weekend — from the long way around the track.

Stuck on the outside throughout all fractions (:27.2, :55.1, 1:23.1, 1:50) of his Berry’s Creek elimination race at the Meadowlands on May 1, Rock N Roll Heaven nonetheless held strong to be third and advance to Saturday’s $225,000 final.

“He’s usually been the recipient of either being up on the front end when he was much the best or following and having nice trips,” said trainer Bruce Saunders. “I went back and looked and he’s never been first over. He might have been briefly and then he cleared; that (race on Saturday) was a tough trip. I was not disappointed in his performance, only disappointed in the outcome.

“The week before (April 24), his first start we put him on the front end, and I wanted to stretch him out because I knew he was going to have pace a lot more on the 1st and 8th of May in the Berry’s elim and final and you can’t, I don’t care how good a horse you have, you can’t qualify if you haven’t gone enough times or raced hard to be fast against good 3-year-olds that have been racing. So we put him on the front end and he won, I was very happy with his performance.

“I really didn’t want to have him on the front end this week. I was hoping to be able to race him from behind and get him qualified, but I had no idea he’d end up being first over. Danny (driver Daniel Dube) thought that if he floated out of there, he’d put a couple live horses in front of him and he did. Unfortunately the live horses lined up 1-2 and he had a couple of 70-1 and 80-1 shots sitting third and fourth, so Daniel moved, there was nobody that was upset with their position, so he would up being first over.”

Despite the trip, Rock N Roll Heaven was in fine form after the race.

“He was full of himself,” Saunders said. “He rarely gets tired, though I will say I think he learned a lot on Saturday. I think that race got his attention. He was tired when he got done racing because of the trip, plus it was about 80 degrees. I think he’ll step way up off that trip, I hope he doesn’t have to endure another one like that. The only downside to not winning of course is now we have to rely on the luck of the draw for post position. Winners select their position and I am sure those guys will be somewhere between the rail and the four hole. I’d be really happy with 3 through 6, even 7, anywhere in there.”

Following is the Berry’s Creek field in alphabetical order, with drivers and trainers from the eliminations listed: Cambassador, Ron Pierce, Steve Elliott; Europan Union, Andy Miller, Erv Miller; Foreign Officer, George Brennan, Erv Miller; Four Starz Trace, Jody Jamieson, Joe Seekman; Fred And Ginger, Tim Tetrick, Ron Burke; Kyle Major, Jody Jamieson, Monte Gelrod; Morgan Shark, Montrell Teague, Joe Seekman; Pang Shui, Ray Schnittker, Schnittker; Rock N Roll Heaven, Daniel Dube, Bruce Saunders; Shark’s Legacy, David Miller, Tom Fanning.