by Nick Salvi, for The Meadowlands

East Rutherford, NJ — A few high-profile trotters who weren’t required to race in Breeders Crown eliminations used the Saturday morning qualifiers as a prep for next week’s finals. The morning was sunny, though crisp with temperatures in the mid-30s and the horses facing a fairly significant headwind in the homestretch.

Trotters opened the card, so Jimmy Takter won. He steered Ferragamo, a 2-year-old facing some 3-year-olds and swept by in the stretch to win in 1:57.2.

Father Patrick came out for race two with trainer Takter driving for the first time all season. He tracked Bluto through fair fractions and pulled the pocket past the 1:25.2 three-quarters, closing out the 1:54 mile with a 28.3 final quarter. It took some Takter encouragement in the stretch to hold off Don Dorado and Team Six who were both gaining near the wire.

Vanity Matters went well this morning, leading all the way for David Miller in 1:57 with a :28.3 final panel. She held Cantabs Fortune at bay, moving away in deep stretch under her own power as both fillies look forward to next week’s 3-year-old filly Breeders Crown trot final.

Commander Crowe took a spin around the big track in anticipation of his third Crown appearance with Trond Smedshammer sulky-sitting the beautiful chestnut champion for his French connections. He cut the mile through even numbers, ending the 1:54.1 mile in :29 while using Lasix for the first time. Creatine, also getting some work in toward next week’s championship, broke before the start but went well after getting that out of his system.

Some classy older pacers competed in the fifth, with millionaire veteran Real Nice holding sway for John Campbell over the returning Lonewolf Currier and I Am Bonasera in 1:55.1/:27.4. They all looked sharp and ready for action.

Breeders Crown eliminations resume Saturday evening at The Meadowlands with post time for the first race set for 7:15 p.m. Find all the info you’ll ever need, including charts and replays for this morning’s races, by visiting The Meadowlands website.