Dandy’s Mercy a homebred delight

If coming up with a horse like Dandy’s Mercy (Captain Crunch) was akin to catching lightning in a bottle, it’s because the flash has extended to the filly’s harness racing performance on the racetrack.

Dandy’s Mercy, the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the first of Wednesday’s two eliminations of the $310,000 Jugette for 3-year-old female pacers at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio, has finished worse than second only twice in 18 career races, winning nine.

The homebred filly wasn’t originally eligible to the Jugette, so her connections made the $15,000 supplemental payment to get into the race.

Scott Zeron, who last year won both the Jugette and companion Little Brown Jug, will drive Dandy’s Mercy for trainer John Butenschoen and owners Hart Walker, Dandy Farms Racing, FT Racing Stable, and Doug Overhiser. She will leave from post three in a field of six. The top-four finishers from each $25,000 elimination will return later in the day for the $260,000 Jugette final.

The 22-race card will begin at 11 a.m. (EDT). The Jugette elims are races 18 and 19, with the final concluding the day.

Dandy’s Mercy heads to the Jugette off a second-place finish behind My Girl EJ in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship Sept. 9 at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs. My Girl EJ is the 7-5 morning-line favorite in the second Jugette elimination and will have Dexter Dunn in the sulky for trainer Ron Burke.

“It’s exciting,” said Jeff Davis, an Illinois resident who races under Dandy Farms Racing and was among the breeders of Dandy’s Mercy, with FT Racing Stable — the nom de course of Frank Tatulli, who Davis first met at the 2012 U.S. Trotting Association Driving School — and Walker. “It’s my first time I’m going to be there (in Delaware). I’ve said I didn’t want to go unless I had something in it. Now, here I am.”

Dandy’s Mercy is a daughter of Captain Crunch out of Illinois-bred Grand Circuit winner Pardon, who was retired in 2014. She was purchased by Davis and his partners in November 2019. Her five foals born prior to Dandy’s Mercy combined to win five races, a total Dandy’s Mercy nearly equaled as a 2-year-old when she posted four victories and three seconds in seven starts. She earned $29,049.

“Last year, we took care of her, raced her very lightly, not against a ton of hard competition,” Davis said. “We just wanted her to learn.”

Dandy’s Mercy was lightly staked on the Grand Circuit this year.

“Hart Walker trained her down,” Davis said. “He’s been steadfast in saying she was a different kind of horse. He knew from the beginning. Even though he loved her and thought she was great and had a different kind of engine, we were like, is it lightning in a bottle or is it not? So, we didn’t stake her to everything.

“Last year, we didn’t stake her to the Breeders Crown. At 2, it didn’t make sense. She’s the exception, not the rule with this broodmare at this point. This year at staking time, we went through it and thought we did a good enough mix without being too overzealous.”

This year, with the exception of two starts in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes series, Dandy’s Mercy made the majority of her first seven appearances in conditioned races. Then came a second-place finish in a PASS division at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in Zeron’s first drive behind the filly, followed by a 1:49.3 triumph in the $125,000 consolation division of the James M. Lynch Memorial at Pocono. Only 10 sophomore filly pacers in North America have posted a faster win time this season.

After her second-place finish in the PASS championship, Zeron suggested putting Dandy’s Mercy in the Jugette since she had limited stakes opportunities ahead.

“All the owners had a conversation,” Davis said. “We’re not going to do it for the Breeders Crown, so this would be the one shot to do something. And here we are.

“(Dandy’s Mercy) hasn’t raced on a half, but if she can get to the lead and gets around those corners, she’s going to be tough. Scotty has really gotten the speed out of her. She’s been push-button; she’s gone to the front, she’s come from behind, and she’s got a wicked third quarter. She’s just been strong.”

In addition to Dandy’s Mercy, the first Jugette elimination includes multiple Grand Circuit winner Caviart Belle, the 3-1 second choice from the stable of Nancy Takter, and 2023 O’Brien Award winner Pass Line, who is 7-2, from the stable of Ron Burke.

Takter won the 2022 Jugette with Treacherous Dragon. Burke owns the record for Jugette victories by a trainer, with four. His most recent came in 2021 with Scarlett Hanover.

The 5-2 second choice behind My Girl EJ in the second elim is Odds On Platinum, who counts the Lynch Memorial main event among her five wins this year for trainer Ian Moore.

For free daily programs for racing at the Delaware County Fair, visit the Little Brown Jug website and look under the “Race Info” tab.

For complete race entries, click here: US Trotting entries.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA