Jersey Cup splits to BG's Folly, Rockin Image

BG's Folly tipped to the outside at the half and steamrolled past the leaders to win the first of two $38,100 Jersey Cup divisions in 1:50.3 on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.

 

BG's Folly, driven by Brian Sears, scored his second straight stakes trophy after a similar first up stunner in the $500,000 Anthony Abbatiello New Jersey Classic on June 12. Trained by George Berkner, BG's Folly paid $5 to win the second race of the night. Valentino, who cut the mile, finished three-quarters of a length behind the winner, while Foreign Officer held third.

 

"I thought Yannick [Gingras and Valentino] was going to give his horse a shot and leave out of there," Sears said. "The pace was pretty good. Coming down the stretch I thought I had a pretty good shot at the win. We're going to freshen him up because there's a lot of money left on the table still."

 

BG's Folly improved his record to five wins in 13 starts and surpassed $339,885 in earnings for the season. The son of Rocknroll Hanover-Art Amour was a $21,000 yearling purchase by Berkner's wife, Ginny, Martin Goldman, Chad Aaron and William Salmeri.

 

Meadowlands Pace eligible Rockin Image rolled to a dazzling 1:48.2 clocking in the $37,350 second division, giving trainer Jimmy Takter his third stakes win of the night.

 

Ideal Matters led the field through a torrid opening quarter of :25.3 before Jo Pas Fod seized command. Nova Artist was next to challenge for the front, towing Rockin Image with him, as they hit the half in :53.1. Rockin Image and driver Yannick Gingras pressured Nova Artist into submission in a 1:19.3 third quarter and drew off to a length and a half tally. Sent off at 9-1, Rockin Image returned a $21 win payoff in the third race.

 

"It's not really what I expected [the fast pace]," Gingras said. "Jimmy [Takter] said he was the best horse in the race, but he had a choking problem and couldn't breathe. We're getting that fixed now, but it seemed like [following Nova Artist] was the move to make. I figured we had the win in the stretch. He would have been pretty hard to beat because he was going all out. He showed his class and he's probably one of the best horses in the country. He's hopefully headed to the Pace elims next week."

 

Lothlorien's Rockin Image posted his first win in four starts this season. The colt earned $285,636 during his 2-year-old campaign, which included a victory in the Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile. Rockin Image is slated to make his next start in the July 10 eliminations for the $1 million Meadowlands Pace.

 

Takter also swept the Goshen Cup for 2-year-old colt pacers prior to the start of the Saturday card with Rockin Image's full brother, Grams Legacy, and Rollwithitharry. Grams Legacy breezed to a 1:52 clocking in the first of the $38,700 splits with Ron Pierce in the sulky.

 

"The colt just drove me out of there, I went down the road and stayed there the best I could," Pierce said of Grams Legacy. "He sprinted out real nice. He's a good colt."

 

Rollwithitharry, also with Pierce in tow, cruised to a 1:52.3 victory in the second division. Takter's wife, Christina, shares ownership of the Rocknroll Hanover-Queen Otra colt with John and Jim Fielding and Louie Camara. (Meadowlands)