Grand Circuit to Western Fair, Harrah’s Philadelphia

Harness Racing This Week: Camluck Classic and Forest City Pace, The Raceway at Western Fair District, London, Ontario and Maxie Lee Memorial, Besty Ross and Joe Auger Memorial, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Chester, Pa.

Schedule of events: The Raceway at Western Fair District will host Grand Circuit action on Friday (May 26) with the C$150,000 Camluck Classic for older pacers and the C$50,000 Forest City Pace for older female pacers.

Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday (May 28) will feature the $100,000 Maxie Lee Memorial for open trotters, the $100,000 Besty Ross for older pacing mares and the $100,000 Joe Auger Memorial for older pacing horses.

Complete entries for the Western Fair races can be found by clicking on this link. Entries for the Philadelphia races can be found by clicking on this link.

Last Time: Tab another victory in the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial for driver Brian Sears and another Grand Circuit trotting win for trainer Marcus Melander. The dynamic team of trotting overhauled an oversized field of 11 with new acquisition Venerate to take the $155,200 free-for-all event on Saturday night (May 20) at the Meadowlands.

Sears settled into fourth with Venerate from post one as Hillexotic bounded from post 10 to the lead towards a :26.4 first quarter. Rattle My Cage soon pulled off the pegs to take the lead into the backstretch, but promptly saw Hillexotic move to reclaim command before yielding the front to his stablemate — and 7-5 favorite — It’s Academic all through a :54.4 half.

Control belonged to It’s Academic through the final turn as he continued on high throttle, all while Sears patiently angled Venerate first-over to ply his attack. It’s Academic clocked three-quarters in 1:22.4 and came under strong urging as Venerate mounted serious pressure from steady Sears hands through the lane. Venerate glided by It’s Academic in the final eighth going away and registered a two length win in a lifetime best 1:50.1. Rattle My Cage took third from Hillexotic fourth. Star mare Bella Bellini — the lone distaffer in the field — levelled off from a second-over trip and finished fifth.

Venerate is a 5-year-old stallion by Love You now owned by Courant Inc., Holly Lane Stud East Ltd., Kemppi Stables Oy Inc. and Venerate Partners. Marcus Melander conditions the former Julie Miller pupil, who changed hands in the 2022 Harrisburg Mixed Sale for $410,000.

“We put together a group and bought him there,” Melander said after the race. “He was a nice horse, and we didn’t really have an Open trotter, so that’s why we bought him. He’s a strong horse. He was very good in the qualifier, so I had high hopes for him in the race.”

The Cutler victory stamped Venerate a millionaire, with his account now standing at $1,009,679. He paid $9.60 to win.

Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website. For a list of 2023 race winners on the Grand Circuit, click here.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2023, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2023 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 5-20-23):

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 107; 2. Jordan Stratton – 102; 3. Scott Zeron – 97; 4. Matt Kakaley – 90; 5. Dexter Dunn – 70.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 92; 2. Linda Toscano – 90; 3. Jeff Gillis – 82; 4. Ake Svanstedt – 77; 5t. Travis Alexander – 54; 5t. Jared Bako – 54.

Owners: 1. Mark Ford – 78; 2. Jesmeral Stable – 42; 3. Robert Di Nozzi – 39; 4. 1362313 Ontario Ltd. – 37; 5. Guy Corbeil- 29.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next week at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with first legs of the Graduate Series for 4-year-old pacers and trotters, the second leg of the Miss Versatility for older trotting mares and the Somebeachsomewhere for 3-year-old pacers.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit