Future Destiny Scores

Future Destiny took the lead with 40 yards to go and scored a three-quarter-length victory over Ideal Weather in the $175,000 Thomas N. D’Altrui Miss New Jersey Saturday night at the Meadowlands, pacing the mile in a lifetime-best 1:50.3. Art’s Temptress was third by 3 1/4 lengths.

“It looked like Yannick (Gingras with Ideal Weather) wanted to cut it,” said winning driver Ron Pierce of his strategy in the race. “There was a hole in front of George (Brennan with Art’s Temptress), and I dropped into there. I didn’t want to gun her to the lead or I would have been there easily. I just decided to follow him around and take my chances of getting out late.

“We shook loose at the head of the stretch, and she had plenty of pace. I didn’t chase her much; she did most of it on her own. She was two fingers. She’s pretty versatile. She’s a pretty classy filly with a lot of style and stamina. This is a top filly, but it’s going to get a lot tougher.”

Future Destiny, trained and co-owned by George Teague Jr., improved her record to six wins, two seconds and one third from six starts and paced a lifetime-best mile. With the winner’s share, her earnings are $207,172.

The Artiscape filly already annexed the finals of the Tender Loving Care and Blossom Series at the Meadowlands. Unraced at two, the Miss New Jersey for 3-year-old New Jersey-sired fillies was the richest event thus far.

A $10,000 yearling purchase, Future Destiny raced for Delaware-based trainer Teague, his sister, Brenda, and K&R Racing LLC (Kevin and Ronald Fry) until early April when they sold a small share in the filly to two additional partners: retired Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet’s Double Down Stables of Colts Neck, New Jersey, and former heavyweight champion George Foreman of Huffman, Texas.

Teague, 42, from Houston, Delaware, rose to national prominence with his campaign of 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue.

“This is a nice filly, always was from day one breaking her to right now here,” said Teague. “I’ve been around for 30 years looking at racing and never seen anyone as good as Rainbow Blue. I hope she’s somewhere as good, but I don’t think I’ll see one as good as Blue.”

Ideal Weather, the winner of the filly division of the Babic at Freehold last fall, was second best.

“We had no choice but to leave out of there,” said Mickey Burke, the trainer of Ideal Weather. “It set up exactly as I thought it would. Future Destiny was going to get the trip on our back. It came down to who could out-leg who coming down the lane. We got beat by an awfully nice filly.” (Meadowlands)

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