by Nick Salvi, for Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment

East Rutherford, NJ — Another beautiful Friday morning for 2-year-olds and qualifiers at The Meadowlands with the freshman trotters opening the card.

Jimmy Takter won the first two, opening with the Muscle Hill-Unbelievable colt Falk On Hill S winning in 2:01 last quarter in :29 with Takter driving. The colt was bred in Sweden by Goran Falk who has retained ownership and imported to the United States over the winter. Nunkeri, from the first crop of Lucky Chucky, was a good second, beaten just a half-length, with Morcredit Blue Chip third.

Takter sent the $300,000 Muscle Hill-Cressida Hanover colt Canepa Hanover out with purpose in the second race. Yannick Gingras put him on the lead through the half in 1:00, then stepped on the gas, resulting in long powerful strides from the colt around the bend in a :27.4 third panel, finishing 18 lengths in front in 1:56.1. He is owned by the partnership of Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Brixton Medical and Al Libfeld.

Ake Svanstedt cut the mile and won the third with another Muscle Hill colt, this one a $60,000 Harrisburg yearling out of Cream Puff (she by Pine Chip and this colt bore a likeness to that champion in appearance) named Stonebridge Force. He set a leisurely tempo through a 1:33.4 three-quarters, then sprinted home in :27.2 when engaged by Uncle Lasse, resulting in a 2:01.1 mile in his first start. Sarrasso Inc. and Laseur, Inc. share ownership.

Pacing fillies came along next and a pair of really nice Rock N Roll Heaven fillies were out strutting their stuff. Heaven On Earth, trained for Triple D Stables by Scott Di Domenico and driven by Tim Tetrick, won a stretch duel with Hollyrocker in 1:56.4/:27.2. She was a bargain $10,000 purchase at Lexington.

A few races later, Zip Code Envy won her third straight qualifier for the Takter/Gingras combo, this time from off the pace in 1:56.1, last quarter in :27.1. Sawyer was second and American Truth third. The winner cost $27,000 in Kentucky last fall.

Tony Alagna sent out a couple of nice colts this morning, the first a homebred Rocknroll Hanover colt out of Cosmo Blue Chip for British client Tom Hill named Rock On The Hill who scored a 1:56.3/:26.4 front end win with Tim Tetrick aboard. He looked sharp in his second appearance, holding off Manny In Sports through a rousing stretch drive.

Alagna came right back with Artspeak, a Western Ideal-The Art Museum colt who brought a winning bid of $100,000 from Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and In The Gym Partners at Lexington to win in 1:56.2 with a :26.4 closing quarter with Scott Zeron driving.

Royalty For Life had another go this morning and looked stronger this time, leading all the way to win in 1:53.2, home in :27.2 for David Miller. His sights are set on next Saturday’s $450,000 Hambletonian Maturity for trainer George Ducharme and owners Al Ross, Ray Campbell, Jr. and Paul Fontaine.

Bee A Magician was next in a workout with the same goal in mind and she sure made a case for racing the boys next week. She cut the mile and won off by herself in 1:53.1 with a :26.3 close under no encouragement from Brian Sears.

A mini-Meadowlands Pace was next in qualifier 11 and JK Endofanera made a statement that he is clearly the horse to beat heading into next week’s eliminations. He strolled along on an easy lead through three-quarters in 1:25, then jetted home in :26 flat to win by a couple in 1:51 with Sears motionless in the bike. Lyonssomewhere could not gain from the pocket, while National Debt was improved over recent efforts with a good stretch drive for third.

Shebestingin wrapped the day up with a 1:51/:26.3 gate-to-wire win with Sandbetweenurtoes tagging along nicely.

Live racing resumes Friday night at 7:15 p.m. with the opening round of New Jersey Sire Stakes for 2-year-olds and the elimination round of the popular Miss Hot To Trot pageant. Horsemen are reminded of the traffic issues surrounding the complex this evening and the suggested route is to take Patterson Plank Road to gain entry.