JL Cruze hits bump in the road
The series for upper echelon trotters didn’t fill this week.
by Debbie Little
On April 10, the first of two $30,000 legs of the JL Cruze was contested at The Meadowlands with a full field of 10 open-caliber trotters.
The idea for the short series named in honor of the fan favorite came from the East Rutherford mile oval’s race secretary Karen Fagliarone.
“It’s been tough for higher-end trotters to get raced on a consistent basis, so I thought it would help fill the void,” Fagliarone said. “I named it JL Cruze as he was the first trotter to break the 1:50 mark at The Big M.”
JL Cruze, a gelded son of Crazed out of the Conway Hall mare Topcat Hall, was trained for most of his career by Eric Ell, who said “it’s absolutely awesome” to have a series named for his talented student.
“He was a very hard-hitting racehorse his whole life,” Ell said. “It’s good to have his name still out there for something.
“The biggest thing I liked about JL Cruze was his heart, and I swear, his is twice the size of any other horse because he raced with injuries… you would never know he had a quarter crack, or a sore ankle, or whatever, when it came race time, he was game on.”
Owned by William Kenneth Wood, William Dittmar, Jr., and Stephen Iaquinta, JL Cruze had a career year as a 4-year-old in 2015, banking $627,456 with 16 wins in 21 starts, including the Hambletonian Maturity and the final of the Graduate where he went 1:49.4, en route to the title of Dan Patch Older Male Trotter of the Year.
“No, I never thought he could go sub 1:50, that was just crazy, but that horse always amazed me,” Ell said.
The second leg of the JL Cruze was supposed to take place tonight (April 24), but according to Fagliarone, only four dropped in the box.
It’s possible that the impressive 4¼-length victory in 1:51.1, last quarter in :26.4, by Antognoni S in his first start of the season off just one qualifier could have scared off a few competitors.
Using what happened this week as a guide, Fagliarone said rather than including the $40,000 JL Cruze final on next week’s condition sheet, she’s considering writing it as an overnight winners-over with preference to JL Cruze horses with the same purse. Although she’d love to get a field of at least seven, Fagliarone said she would settle for a competitive field of six.
Two of the horses that dropped in this week for the second leg were the Ron Burke-trained Antognoni S and Nancy Takter-conditioned Bestfriend Volo, who finished second in Leg 1 to Antognoni S.
Burke said he plans to drop Antognoni S in at The Meadowlands for next week’s race and should they come up one horse shy of a field of six, he may have something else he could add in.
Takter has made it clear in the past that The Meadowlands has always been her first choice when it comes to where to race her horses, and that sentiment has certainly not changed. However, it’s difficult when everyone is not of the same mindset.
When asked if she plans to drop Bestfriend Volo back in for next weekend at The Big M, she said, “Yes, I would love to, but it’s not very encouraging when the race office tells you they reserve the right not to race the final, especially since Yonkers draws Friday for Thursday and Chester draws Monday for a similar class on Friday. My horse has sat out three weeks, so should I gamble that The Meadowlands decides to use the class or go elsewhere?
“It is too expensive to train/own horses that stay at the farm. None of the horses I entered got in this week at The Meadowlands. They will now go elsewhere. I spoke to other trainers. They are also concerned and told me they would also go elsewhere.”
The luck of the draw, so to speak, is not on the side of The Meadowlands with theirs taking place after those of their neighboring tracks that offer equal or better purses and shorter fields. For example, three of the JL Cruze Leg 1 competitors raced last night (April 23) at Yonkers in a six-horse invitational that went for $39,000, while another raced at Plainridge in an eight-horse open for $25,000.
The Meadowlands is long known for its short series, especially during the winter and early spring. In 2015, JL Cruze competed in and won the finals of the Super Bowl in January, Charlie Singer Memorial in February, and Shiaway St Pat in March.
Although this attempt at bringing back a short series may not have played out as well as hoped for, it has been said in the past that it takes some time for something new to gain traction, even if it’s something old that’s being reintroduced. Here’s hoping the JL Cruze returns for 2027.
JL Cruze, who last set foot on a racetrack as a 14-year-old in 2025, may not be done competing.
According to a post on Facebook on March 11, JL Cruze is being ridden under saddle, and is taking to it like the world champion and old pro that he is. His next chapter appears to be aimed for the National Standardbred Show in September. On Saturday (April 25), JL Cruze will be on hand to meet and greet his fans at Shenandoah Downs.
