By Edison Hatter, Meadowlands Handicapper — Friday, April 14, 2023 — Early Double Analysis
Race 1
1 STOLEN ART Made a couple of breaks during the mile last time out down at Freehold and overall just hasn’t shown a lot in the recent form, including in recent tries against similar here at the Meadowlands. Tough to build a case here.
2 LEGATO Just missed three starts ago at Freehold at a price against an easier TM group, but overall there isn’t a lot of consistency in his current form. Just 1-for-21 in the past two seasons and seems to be in a tough spot tonight.
3 FATHER FRED Made a break two starts ago, but was able to lead for a while and got a check last time out in a leg of a Series down at Freehold. Did win just three starts ago and will look to take to the big track in this one.
4 FINAL JUSTICE Got a check last week in a Series down at Freehold off a sick scratch and comes out of the tougher version of the Series compared to FATHER FRED. He’s put together some solid miles here in the past.
5 TAKEITTOTHEFACE Finished second last week after working a bit in the first half of the mile. He’s been knocking on the door against these Amateur fields at times this meet and will look to keep it going tonight from a perfect post.
6 JONAH Was parked for a while from an outside post last week out of the same race as TAKEITTOTHEFACE. He battled on well despite the less-than-ideal trip and was beaten less than three lengths. Will look for a better trip here.
7 BEACHY BOY HILL He won against a similar four starts ago, but the last three haven’t gone his way with a couple of tough trips. Just two wins in the last two seasons, but been racing a bit better than the recent lines would suggest.
8 JERRYTONE Finished second against similar types a few times in the last handful of starts against similar here at the Meadowlands. Tough trip last week when parked the mile, but still earned a check. Will look for a better trip tonight.
9 ROCK TO GLORY Pulled the 13-1 upset win against similar just five starts ago, but hasn’t been able to show a lot since then. Did finish fourth while closing from off the pace two back. Likely looking for a similar trip from this post.
10 YS SUNSHINE Big longshot last week against similar on the ship in from Monticello. Took back early and was never involved in that one. Similar spot tonight from an even tougher post. I’ll pass and wait for a better spot for him.
Top Contenders: 5-7-8-6
Driver Choices: John Calabrese 8 Over 2 | Tony Beltrami 7 Over 4
Race 2
1 CYBERSPACE Made a break at the start last week and lost all chance. He did look solid in his qualifiers in the past several weeks here and he’ll look to stay flat tonight as he has made breaks in both lifetime starts to date so far.
2 JET ZETTE She finished third last week and was beaten nearly ten lengths, but she is the best returned from that field as these four all come out of that race. Looks to be one of the two main win contenders in this short field tonight.
3 PRINCESS CAITLYN Finished fourth last week in the second leg and beat the two breakers in the field that come back this week. She remains an 0-for-14 maiden, but this is a realistic spot for her to pick up that first win.
4 WILDER DAYS Another one of the breakers from last week’s leg. She was making her seasonal debut off the layoff and broke late in the mile. She’ll look to stay flat tonight and take a step forward second off of the bench.
Top Contenders: 3-2-4-1
Driver Choices: None
