from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — Twinscape is the only maiden in the Robert J. Suslow Stakes, a distinction he will try to change in the second leg of the series on Friday night, April 13, at the Meadowlands.

Despite being winless in eight career tries, Twinscape has picked up checks in all five of his starts this season, including a third in the $101,300 Matt’s Scooter Final on March 31. The Peter Thomas trainee will look to break into the win column in the $22,500 second leg of the Suslow, race eight on Friday night. He is rated at 15-1 from the rail (head #3) with Jonathan Roberts set to drive.

“He’s had some tough trips and if he ever has things go his own way he can be right there,” Thomas said. “We’ve got the rail this week, so maybe things will go right for us.

“We had him ready and he got a little sick on us in January, so we missed the Junior Trendsetter Series,” he noted. “Now that he’s been out there a few times, he’s become a pretty handy horse. He’s coming around and the Meadowlands is a tough place to teach a young one. You can leave with him and every driver who’s driven him has liked him. He needs to sit and wait to make his move. I would say finishing third in the Matt’s Scooter Final was his best race so far. I knew they were going good fractions, but I was just hoping to get a check closing from last.”

Twinscape finished fifth in last week’s first leg of the Suslow series, coming from eighth at the head of the lane to finish just 1-1/2 lengths behind the winner, Art Star. Although his performance was strong, Thomas still sensed something might be amiss and had him scoped after the race.

“Last week, in a 12-horse field, I thought there would be more movement,” he said. “We were following John Campbell with Yankee Stardom, and they never got rolling until late. He still came home in :26.3. I didn’t really feel good about him, we scoped him after the race and he had a little blood in there. So, he’ll be on Lasix for the first time (on Friday).”

Twinscape was a $10,000 yearling purchase at the New Jersey Classic Sale by the Paper Box Stable (Carmine Ventre) of New Providence, New Jersey. He showed promise beginning with his first start, a fourth place finish in a New Jersey Sire Stakes division, but an injury cut his freshman season short.

“He was real good last year and then he got hurt in his stall,” Thomas said. “He kicked over the stall gate and his hock got infected. He was gelded to calm down. He’s better and more settled down now, but we still have to baby sit him.

“(Trainer) John Bown picked this colt out and developed him,” he continued. “He does toe out a little bit and brushes the one knee, but he goes with it. I have a good blacksmith and we’ve been making minor adjustments. His feet got stinging him one week. We had rim pads on him the night Ron Pierce drove him first-over (second leg of the Matt’s Scooter on March 23) and he couldn’t get a hold of the track.”

Thomas has a stable of five horses in training at Gaitway Farms in Englishtown, New Jersey. He grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts and learned the ropes of racing at nearby Rockingham Park.

“I started out in the sport with a friend at Rockingham Park,” he said. “We did this after school. I bought my first horse for $1,200 and he turned out to be pretty good. We had him in $4,000 claimers and moved him up to $7,000. We thought we were on top of the world and it was fun.”

Thomas moved to New Jersey 25 years ago and worked for trainers Ray Remmen, Dave Elliott and Jerry Silverman before taking a brief hiatus from the horse business.

“Recently, I was out of the business for a few years working as groundskeeper for Princeton University,” he said. “I was busy coaching my son, Drew, in a travel baseball league. I was committed to that, so I didn’t really have the time for the horses. My son is studying criminology and wants to be a state trooper in New Jersey.”

Last chance to register for the 2007 NHHC

Only one week remains to register for the 2007 National Harness Handicapping Championship, the only tournament for harness players to feature a $50,000 guaranteed first prize, on Saturday, April 21, at the Meadowlands.

Players who did not earn an entry into the 2007 NHHC through a qualifying tournament have the option of buying into the championship for $1,000 ($600 non-refundable entry fee plus $400 required tournament bankroll). In addition to registering in-person or by mail, players now have the option of entering online with a credit card by using PayPal (additional fee applies).

For the entry form and other contest registration information, click here: http://www.thebigm.com/eventsDetail.asp?eventid=2819.

Entry deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Thursday night, April 19.

The buy-in includes an invitation for the player and a guest to the 2007 NHHC cocktail reception, presented by The Horseman and Fair World Magazine/harnessracing.com, on Friday, April 20.

To play in the NHHC, contestants must bet 10 races: three pre-designated mandatory races from The Meadows, Cal-Expo and Balmoral, plus, the player’s choice of seven Meadowlands live races. Contest wagers are win, place or a combination of the two; one horse per race. Contestants must meet a minimum of $40 per race; $100 maximum.

In addition to the $50,000 guaranteed first prize, the winner receives the title National Harness Handicapping Champion, tickets for two on Continental Airlines to anywhere in the continental United States, a guest appearance on Fox Sports Net’s Racing from the Meadowlands and his or her handicapping picks published in the Meadowlands program on major stakes days.

Payouts are to the top 10 finishers and contestants keep all pari-mutuel winnings.

Racetracks and wagering outlets across the country held NHHC qualifiers, with their winners and runner-ups receiving their entry fees, bankrolls and travel paid for by the host establishment. In addition to the Meadowlands, participants in the 2007 NHHC included: Bally’s Las Vegas, Balmoral Park, Bangor Raceway, Brandywine Turf Club, Buffalo Raceway, Cal-Expo, Capital OTB/Albany Teletheater, Freehold Raceway, Harrington Raceway, Los Alamitos, The Meadows, Mohegan Sun, Pocono Downs, Western Regional OTB/Batavia Downs and Winticket.com.

Brennan and Crawdad connections on Racing Insider

Driver George Brennan discusses his 5,000-win milestone on this week’s edition of the Meadowlands Racing Insider web radio show, hosted by Mike Curci. Bob Black of the Red Barn Stable talks about Crawdad’s rise to stardom. Plus, Bob Heyden’s Backstretch Buzz and Horses To Watch with Darin Zoccali and Ken Warkentin.

Click here to listen to this week’s show: http://www.sportsnetamerica.com/harness_racing_insider.html.

Entry box kept open

The entry box for the Sunday program at the Meadowlands will remain open until the completion of Friday morning’s qualifying races.