Little Brown Jug heads busy Grand Circuit week

Harness Racing This Week: Delaware Grand Circuit, Delaware County Fair, Delaware, Ohio; Caesars Trot, Hoosier Park Pacing Derby, Jenna’s Beach Boy, Phil Langley Memorial Trot, Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes, Moni Maker, and The Elevation, Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; Mohawk Million, Metro, She’s A Great Lady, Milton and Simcoe Stakes, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Campbellville, Ontario; and Kindergarten Series, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.

Schedule of Events: Grand Circuit action kicks into full gear on Wednesday (Sept. 22) at Delaware with the $253,800 Jugette for 3-year-old filly pacers, two divisions in the $91,650 Buckette for 3-year-old filly trotters, the $46,310 Standardbred for 2-year-old filly trotters and the $42,710 Standardbred for 2-year-old filly pacers. The Thursday (Sept. 23) card at Delaware is highlighted by the $661,800 Little Brown Jug for 3-year-olds.

Also on tap that day is the $116,500 Miss Versatility final for older trotting mares, the $87,700 Old Oaken Bucket for 3-year-old open trotters, the $46,710 Standardbred for 2-year-old colt pacers and the $45,330 Standardbred for 2-year-old colt trotters.

Grand Circuit racing at Hoosier Park will be held on Friday (Sept. 24) with the $200,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management stakes for 2-year-old filly trotters, the $200,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management stakes for 2-year-old filly pacers, the $210,000 Caesars for Open trotters, the $182,000 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby for Open pacers, the $130,000 Jenna’s Beach Boy for 3-year-old colt pacers, the $115,000 Moni Maker for 3-year-old filly trotters, the $120,000 Elevation for 2-year-old colt pacers and the $100,000 Phil Langley Memorial for 3-year-old male trotters.

Also on Friday, The Meadowlands hosts the fourth leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-old pacers and trotters. There will be two $20,000 divisions for colt and filly trotters and single $20,000 divisions for colt and filly pacers.

Grand Circuit action at Woodbine Mohawk will be held on Saturday (Sept. 25) with the C$1 million Mohawk Million for 2-year-old colt trotters, the C$824,000 Metro for 2-year-old open pacers, the C$500,500 She’s A Great Lady for 2-year-old filly pacers, the C$240,000 Milton for older pacing mares and the C$157,975 Simcoe for 3-year-old colt trotters.

Last Time: Ahundreddollarbill cashed in on a perfect trip and confident drive to take the $479,135 Canadian Trotting Classic on Saturday night (Sept. 18) at Woodbine Mohawk Park

Trained by Tony Alagna and driven by Andrew McCarthy, the 3-year-old son of Chapter Seven-Swinging Royalty added another chapter to his impressive career after a storybook ending in one of North America’s top races for sophomore trotters.

It was Winning Ticket (David Miller), undefeated in 10 starts this year, who glided to the lead from post 10, as In Range (Tim Tetrick), On A Streak (Sylvain Filion) and 4-5 choice Fashion Frenzie (Louis Roy) picked up the pursuit after an opening quarter of :26.3.

Winning Ticket continued to set the tempo, as Roy had Fashion Frenzie on the move, with Ahundreddollarbill following suit. After a half in :55.2 and three-quarters in 1:23.2, Fashion Frenzie, Ahundreddollarbill and In Range began to cut into the lead of Winning Ticket, with Ahundreddollarbill eventually seizing control mid-stretch and driving on to notch a 1-1/2 length triumph. The final time was a blistering 1:52. In Range was second, Winning Ticket finished third and Fashion Frenzie fourth.

Bred by Jonas Schlabach, the gelding, owned by Crawford Farms Racing and James Crawford IV, now has eight wins from 10 starts on the season and 10 wins from 16 career races.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2021, 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 2021 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 9-18-21):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 740; 2. Yannick Gingras – 565; 3. Tim Tetrick – 562; 4. David Miller – 539; 5. Andrew McCarthy – 482.5.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 703; 2. Nancy Takter – 440; 3. Tony Alagna – 425.5; 4. Nifty Norman – 400; 5. Marcus Melander – 355.
Owners: 1t. Burke Racing Stable – 138.5; 1t. Crawford Farms Racing – 138.5; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 127.3; 4. Brad Grant – 124.9; 5. Courant Inc. – 117.

Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Lexington’s historic Red Mile. There will be eight Bluegrass stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds of both sexes and gaits. Hollywood Dayton Raceway will also be hosting a trio of Grand Circuit events, the Dayton Pacing Derby, the Dayton Distaff Derby and the Dayton Trotting Derby for older Standardbreds.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit