Teague's 2 ready for Adios

The ultimate test of two-heat racing in an event like the Adios could not have come at a better time for trainer George Teague Jr. and his two-pronged attack of North America Cup champion Total Truth and 2005 Woodrow Wilson winner Western Ace.

The pair headed off to Western Pennsylvania this weekend off a spirited training session at Harrington Raceway, which Teague felt was an adequate Plan B to his pre-race plans.

“I had wanted to put them both in a qualifier the last week of The Meadowlands meet, but they did not hold qualifiers there,” Teague said Thursday. “But they both trained super at Harrington and should be tight. They had a real tough run of about six weeks running through the Meadowlands Pace. The two heats in the Adios will be a test and I think I will come into the Meadows with fresh horses.”

Despite having not won in 2006, Western Ace has already racked up more than $140,000 in earnings with a second in his North America Cup elimination and third in the New Jersey Classic final.

Already a two-heat winner in the Hoosier Cup at Hoosier Park on June 24, Total Truth leads all North American horses in earnings with $975,350 and has a $42,000 lead over Meadowlands Pace winner Artistic Fella.

Timesareachanging’s Adios stakes record of 1:49.3, set in 2004, could be in jeopardy this year. With a number of fast-record contenders in the three eliminations, and a recent track resurfacing, the Adios records could "be-a-changing" on Saturday, predicts The Meadows' general manager John Marshall.

“We performed a massive track resurfacing project in April. Thirty-six inches of limestone was skimmed from the racetrack and a drainage system installed near the pylons,” Marshall said. “Horsemen say the result made a fast track faster. Many of our horsemen credit the project with putting life into the outside lanes. Our track crew is hard at work preparing to optimize track conditions for Adios week."

« Back