Rock N Roll Heaven brushed to command at the half and held off all challengers to win the $220,000 Berry's Creek fnal on a blustery Saturday night at the Meadowlands.
The opening quarter was a swift :26.4 as Europan Union engaged Cambassador around the first turn and took the lead as the latter went offstride. Kyle Major worked to clear the front next, but driver Daniel Dube and Rock N Roll Heaven rushed headlong into the wind to take command and open up to a two-length advantage in a :55.3 half.
Kyle Major took aim at the leader at the top of the stretch, but Rock N Roll Heaven pulled away and held off a late rally by Fred And Ginger for a 1 1/4-length tally in 1:52. Kyle Major held on for third. Rock N Roll Heaven paid $7 to win the first major stakes event of the season for 3-year-old pacers.
"When Cambassador made a break on the first turn, I was just hoping I could clear past him, but I was alright," Dube said. "The wind is so tough on the backside. The half was in :55.3 and we had to work hard to get there. After that, he just kept going and that's a sign of a good horse."
Rock N Roll Heaven, trained by Bruce Saunders, posted his second win in three starts this season. He finished third in his Berry's Creek elimination race after being caught wide the whole mile and encountering difficulties with his earplugs before the start of the race.
"We switched his head poles around tonight," Saunders noted. "He was running out a little bit going into the first turn last week, so we put a straight pole on the outside and a line pole on the inside. I think he's going to have to learn to go with two poles because he likes to run in and run out a little bit. I don't how much of how he steered tonight was attributable to the wind. It's brutal out here, as everybody can see the way the flags are blowing and horses are getting blown sideways.
"I was very impressed with the entire field last week," Saunders continued. "There were horses of quality, but I thought we had the best resume coming into the race. I thought last week he endured a tough trip, but I knew he'd bounce back off of that."
One of last year's top 2 year olds, Rock N Roll Heaven won four of nine starts and never missed the board as a freshman. Victories in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final and Bluegrass, along with runner-up finishes in the Governor's Cup and Metro finals, propelled the colt to $592,626 in earnings for the season. Originally a $57,000 yearling purchase, owner Frank Bellino of Bronxville, N.Y. purchased Rock N Roll Heaven for an undisclosed sum last June. The colt is by New Jersey-based sire Rocknroll Hanover and out of the stakes-winning mare Artistic Vision.
Rock N Roll Heaven is eligible to the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on Saturday, July 17. He will make his next start in the first leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes on May 15 at the Meadowlands. (Meadowlands)
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