Cannibal, Confederate take Meadowlands Pace elims; Confederate morning-line fave for final
July 9, 2023, by Ken Weingartner, for Meadowlands Racing Media (Lisa Photo)
East Rutherford, NJ — Cannibal and Confederate won Saturday’s (July 8) $50,000 Meadowlands Pace eliminations for 3-year-old pacers at The Meadowlands and will start the $668,000 final on July 15 from posts four and five, respectively.
Following the draw, Confederate, who won the faster of the two elims, stopping the clock in 1:47.3, was established as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the final. Cannibal was made the 4-1 third choice behind Voukefalas, who finished second to Cannibal, at 7-2.
Both elimination winners are owned by Diamond Creek Racing and were bred by Diamond Creek Farm.
Confederate (Tim Tetrick)won his elimination by a half-length over El Rey (Scott Zeron). Christchurch (Dexter Dunn) was third and followed across the finish line by Ammo (David Miller) and Stockade Seelster (Jody Jamieson). However, Stockade Seelster went off stride coming out of the last turn and in the stretch and was placed eighth for violating the breaking rule and interference. Save America (Andrew McCarthy) was sixth-placed-fifth to get the last spot in the final.
In that second elim, Christchurch took the field to the opening quarter in :25.4 and half-mile point in :52.1 as he battled with longshot Lyons Surfing to maintain the lead. Christchurch was still on top as he reached three-quarters in 1:20.1 but Confederate, who was fourth for much of the way, moved three-wide on the last turn and burst down the stretch for the win.
Tim Tetrick drove Confederate, the 1-5 favorite, for trainer Brett Pelling.
“He’s got high speed, he can follow speed, speed is his thing,” Pelling said about Confederate. “He loves to go quick. Timmy thinks he’s OK either way (from in front or off the pace). He’s raced him a lot more than what I have. But his best runs that I’ve seen have been coming off a helmet.” Continue on USTA