from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — It looks like Ewie Duncan N has taken to New Jersey. The New Zealand-bred pacer has a second and a win in his first two North American starts, Complex Series prelims, and is now the 5-2 morning line favorite in Saturday night’s (Jan. 27) $85,000 Complex Final, the co-featured seventh race at the Meadowlands.

The Complex shares the Saturday night spotlight with the $116,600 Presidential, the fifth event on the 13-race card.

“He’s been as good as you can be,” driver David Miller said of Ewie Duncan N, a 5-year-old Live Or Die gelding who took a lifetime mark of 1:50.4 last week.

“I don’t think even Ross (trainer Ross Croghan) knew how much he could go,” noted Miller. “He got a good trip last time, but he didn’t need it. He’s for real, I think, and I would say he’s got a big chance in the final.”

The Australian-born Croghan has had considerable success with his Down Under imports and Ewie Duncan N is his latest to make a big impression in a short amount of time. The pacer races for Florida-based Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Robert Cooper.

Miller has thus far been shut out of the winner’s circle for both the Complex and the Presidential.

In this year’s Presidential, he will be handling Escapable Beaux for Lucky Sevens Racing of Acton, Ontario. The Anthony Montini-trainee is listed at 10-1 in the morning line and was sixth and seventh in his Presidential preliminary legs. Last year the son of Artiscape finished in the money in 20 of 37 starts and added more than $230,000 for a career total of nearly $460,000.

“I was told that he wasn’t at his best,” Miller said. “He’s definitely a nice horse, and I think he’s got a chance to bounce back if they can get him straightened out.”

“It was a major disappointment last week,” conceded Montini. “He was not sick. He scoped clean after the race. He was on one line a little. This week, I changed his exercise routine. This is not the first time he’s had a couple of bad races in a row that I cannot explain. When Doug Brown first gave him to me, he did it. He had a couple of poor races. This week, he seems to be a little keener, and I’ve made a minor bridle change. When he’s himself, I feel he’s as good as any of those in the final.”

$116,600 Presidential Final: All Over The Place, Ron Pierce, 8-1; Escapable Beaux, David Miller, 15-1; Load The Dice, Yannick Gingras, 2-1; Hop Sing, George Brennan, 10-1; Roddy’s Bags Again, Mike Lachance, 5-1; Nuclear Breeze, Brian Sears, 7-5; Bay Sign, Jonathan Roberts, 15-1; and Our First Falcon N, Ron Cushing, 15-1.

$85,000 Complex Final: Real Mean Art, Yannick Gingras, 7-2; Armbro Dublin, Andy Miller, 15-1; Super Eighty Eight, Daniel Dube, 6-1; Ewie Duncan N, David Miller, 5-2; Odds On BP, George Brennan, 9-2; AB’s Beach Boy, Mike Lachance, 15-1; White Hot Cards, Ron Pierce, 10-1; Royal Man, Cat Manzi, 10-1; Western Glory, Jim Marohn, Jr., 15-1; and South Park Hanover, Brian Sears, 8-1.

Around the Meadowlands for January 26, 2007

John Campbell, who has won the Presidential Final five times, will be watching this one from the sidelines. He is still recovering from leg fractures incurred in a spill at Woodbine in October.

“I’m hoping next week to get rid of the crutches,” he reported. “I’m doing pretty well. My x-rays are actually a bit ahead of schedule.”

Campbell provided a bit of a flashback to his Presidential winners, starting with Boomer Drummond in 1984. “He was the best of that group that year,” he said.

Campbell was back in the winner’s circle with Banker Blue Chip in 1988. “I drove him a bit aggressively in the first couple of rounds, and in the final he gave me one big run at the end (:26.1 home to sweep the field),” he recalled. “You don’t see a lot of horses go from last to first at that level.”

In 1996, the winner was Lusty Leader. “He would have been heard from a lot more but hurt his leg shortly after the Presidential,” Campbell explained.

Red Bow Tie (1998 and 1999) was the only double winner of the Presidential and Campbell drove him for the 1998 victory. “He was pretty much the best horse — a real pleasure to drive, a professional racehorse,” he said. “He went about his business.”

Campbell’s last Presidential winner was in 2000 with Dragon Again, the last horse to sweep the series. “He was a great-gaited horse who was on his game and could overcome bad post positions and win,” Campbell recalled.

Trainer Mark Ford and owner Martin Scharf, who won the 2003 Presidential with Gallo Blue Chip, are back this year with All Over The Place, who drew the rail and is rated 8-1 in the morning line. The gelded son of Artsplace had two wins coming into the Presidential and has been seventh and fifth in his two preliminary rounds.

“He had a terrible trip last out and still came home in :26 flat,” Ford noted. “A few more steps and he’d have been right there with the top ones. I don’t like to refer to him as a filler, but maybe a very good filler. He’s not the type of horse who’s going to manhandle the open types. He’s been a victim of circumstances, but if he lands in the right spot, he’ll be tough.”

In the Complex Final, Ford sends out Super Eighty Eight for J&J Como of Totowa, New Jersey.

“No owner in North America deserves to win a big race more than the Comos,” Ford said. “In all my years of training I’ve never known better people. This horse was raced into the ground at three and four. He needed and got a good rest. We gave him one, a long time off. He came back very strong from that. I’m very anxious to see how he does in there. I feel he’s as good as any of the others.”

The winner of the 2006 Presidential is back to defend his title in 2007. Hop Sing, who has had a string of third and fourth place finishes lately, set the stakes record of 1:48.3 last year. The 6-year-old gelding, trained by Ettore Annunziata for his son, Richard, carries a lifetime bankroll of $858,624.

The winner of the 1981 Presidential — Miller’s Scout — is alive and well and living in Belleville, Ontario, reports Buddy Gilmour, who scored his second Presidential victory with the pacer. The horse is now 31.

“He looks good, but he’s deaf, can’t hear a thing,” said Gilmour, who then spoke of the horse’s 1981 performance. “I told Lloyd (Buddy’s brother) the week before that he could drive him and win with him in the preliminary, but I was going to drive him in the final. I knew how sharp he was, a tough, tough horse. He never missed a race. A couple of years later he traveled all over with Cam Fella. They raced everywhere together.”

Gilmour also won the first edition of the Presidential in 1978 with Senor Skipper.

“In 1977, Senor Skipper was racing in some conditioned races and was for sale,” the Hall of Famer recalled. “I was going to buy him myself. By the time I told a friend of mine about it, (trainer) Ernie Spruce had already gotten him for $50,000. He was some horse. I only drove him a few times, but I would say he was right there with the top horses I ever drove. The following year was when he won the Presidential.”

Senor Skipper’s caretaker at the time was a 21-year-old named Ron Pierce — now a Hall of Fame driver himself.

“Ronnie was a helluva nice guy,” Gilmour said. “He knew the basics, a good horseman early on. I didn’t see him drive much back then. He only had his license for a little while and it wasn’t until a couple of years later that he started driving regularly. He did a good job with Senor Skipper, I can sure tell you that.”