from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Florida Boy, a contender in the $121,300 Four Leaf Clover Final on Saturday night, March 24, heads a busy weekend at the Meadowlands for trainer Mark Silva.

A round one Four Leaf Clover winner, Florida Boy starts from post five and is rated at 9-2 on the morning line in the final, Saturday’s seventh race. Leading driver Brian Sears will be in sulky behind the 5-year-old gelding, who is owned by his father, accomplished Floridian horsemen Jay Sears. This will be Florida Boy’s second try for a Four Leaf Clover crown. He finished ninth in the 2006 final.

“Florida Boy isn’t the best in that particular race and will need a trip,” said trainer Mark Silva. “He’s definitely in form and he likes to kick home in the lane off cover. If he gets up close enough he’ll be dangerous.”

Florida Boy closed along the pylons to win the opening leg of the Four Leaf Clover and finished fourth in last week’s second leg, after making a first-over bid. He has been on the board in six of eights stars in 2007, winning three races. Lifetime, he has a record of 23 wins in 43 starts and earnings of $300,447. He took a mark of 1:49.3 in an overnight race on April 15, 2006 at the Meadowlands.

Silva will send out six other contenders on the Saturday card, beginning with Carr’s Character, who will take on the formidable J K CU Later in the $29,000 4-year-old Open, race three.

“Carr’s Character has been drawing bad quite a bit and hasn’t had much of a chance to get a trip and show us what he’s got,” Silva noted. “He can pace home pretty large in the last eighth. That 4-year-old Open is a short field and J K CU Later is going to be hard to run down. It looks like we’ll be close enough this week. He brushes his knees a bit so we didn’t want to gun him out of there from the nine hole last week.”

Jenna’s Choice, who has overcome two injuries so far in his career, is entered in race five, the $35,000 Winners Over.

“Jenna’s Choice has been holding his own,” Silva noted. “We’re just racing him to let him do his thing and he might swell up on us and get better as the meet goes on. Even though he paced home in :26.4 (seconds) last week, he wasn’t that good. He should have been third for sure. He might’ve tied up a bit. We gunned him the week before, he hit his ankle and that swelled up a bit. That’s why we had given him two weeks off. The main thing is he’s come back from those serious injuries, so we’re just not going to get too crazy with him. We tried aluminum shoes on him and he didn’t come back as sound.”

The rest of his Saturday night contenders are: Ruffled Tux in race six, Dear Old Boy in race eight, Patch Adams in race nine, and Prolific Pacer in race 11.

“Ruffled Tux is a big, strong horse in a very tough class (non-winners of four races or $100,000 lifetime),” he said. “When you don’t price a horse in a claimer that’s where you gotta go. He needs some luck to do well in there. He was first over last week and that’s not going to get it done in there.

“Dear Old Boy is just okay. He raced well for me in his first start here from the 10 hole. He’s been a little disappointing since then. Even though he’s been used hard, he hasn’t been particularly strong at any part of the mile.

“Patch Adams fits that class. He may not be the best in there, but he’s comfortable, making money and somebody might take him.

“Prolific Pacer has chased I Ain’t No Fool in his last two. Again, he’s another one who’s in the right class and doing well.”

In addition to his Saturday starters, Silva will send out Street Dancer in the $50,000 second round of the Overbid Series on Friday night, March 23, at the Meadowlands. A recent addition to Silva’s barn, Street Dancer drew the rail in the Overbid, Friday’s tenth race. She made her first start for Silva in the opening round of the series, in which she finished second after being parked by Burning Point into the stretch.

Street Dancer was named Illinois’ 3-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year in 2006 and is owned by the partnership of former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, Terry Rathgeber, Ted Lock and James Reynolds. She has not missed a check since joining the open mare ranks at the Meadowlands.

“(Trainer) Nelson Willis called me to take Street Dancer,” Silva explained. “He had sold one and sent the rest of his horses back to Illinois where he has a big stable. We scoped her and she did bleed a little last time, so she’s first-time Lasix (on Friday night).

“She seems like a big, strong mare who will do well at the Meadowlands. It looks like she’ll be able to handle that tough transition from 3-year-old to the open ranks.

“Last time, she came first over and went around Burning Point,” he continued. “I think she definitely belongs in there. These races are so competitive that you have to do what you have to do when it comes to getting a trip. She’s not against coming first over again. She likes to rough it and be driven aggressively.”

Silva captured his second Meadowlands Fall Meet training title in December and is optimistic about his chances for a January-August crown, though he is third in the standings so far.

“I felt really good about winning the Fall Meet because it’s always nice to win a title at the Meadowlands,” he said. “This meet for the most part has just been okay for me and I’ve been struggling along a bit. The horses weren’t falling into the right classes. After I won the Fall Meet the horses got elevated and the stable hit a dull stretch until they got classified again. That’s how the cycle works and the rhythm of the stable goes.

“We have quite a few more condition horses this year and you can’t win as many as with the claimers,” he continued. “I haven’t been as active at the claim box because I’ve had quite a big number of horses this year, 25 or 30 at one time. I’m usually around a 20-horse man. I’ll figure out who stays with me and who goes, and when some of those series horses go into claimers, I’ll have to figure out who’s priced right. If some drop in there somewhere we’re ready to go after them.”

$121,300 Four Leaf Clover
HN, PP, Horse, Driver, Trainer, Odds
1, 4, Crawdad, A. Miller, E. Miller, 2-1
1A, 6, Western Shore, G. Brennan, E. Miller, 2-1
2, 1, Fly Fly Buckeye, R. Pierce, M. Burke, 8-1
3, 2, Thisbigdogwilfight, J. Roberts, J. Eaton, 10-1
4, 3, King Cat Anvil N, M. Lachance, D. Stratton, 15-1
5, 5, Florida Boy, B. Sears, M. Silva, 9-2
6, 7, Ewie Duncan N, D. Miller, R. Croghan, 3-1
7, 8, Real Mean Art, Y. Gingras, J. Mc Dermott, 5-1
8, 9, Edison Hanover, D. Dube, M. Burke, 15-1
9, 10, Atomic Ideal, C. Manzi, M. Burke, 15-1