Two-year-olds to fight for $100,000 DSBF final

HARRINGTON, DE – As the 76th season of live harness racing at Harrington Raceway winds down, the week of October 10-12 ahead is among the best of the meet.

The $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) 2-year-old finals will be held for pacing colts tonight (October 10), pacing fillies on Tuesday (October 11) and trotters on Wednesday (October 12). Augmenting the DSBF finals are three $50,000 Open events, one on each night of racing.

In the male pacing final, a showdown between a pair of horses who swept their two elimination legs is in the offing, as Night Terror (Badlands Hanover, 7/2, Roger Plante Jr.) and Gaitway Guy (Delmarvalous, 9/5, Corey Callahan) are set to square off in the field of eight from the two inside posts. The race is 5th on the 14-race program. Night Terror, co-owned by trainer Leblanc Racing, is a colt who has won 4-of-8 lifetime, while Gty Stable’s Gaitway Guy is a gelding who is unbeaten in 3 starts for trainer Jeff Smith.

The $50,000 Open, the 6th race on the card, is for male pacers and named in memory of Bobby Quillen, the long-time Delaware legislator and harness racing fan who passed away in 2004. The DSBF final and Open are the last two legs of the pick five (races 2-6).

On Tuesday, as has been customary, the female pacers will take center stage, as Misty Coast (Powerful Mist, 7/5, Art Stafford Jr.) leads a full field from the rail in the DSBF Final for pacing fillies in the 5th race. The filly is the only in the field to win both her eliminations for trainer Les Givens and owner Stephen Messick and drew the coveted rail.

A $50,000 Open will follow as the 6th race, commemorating Kathleen Cain. Now retired, Cain, 94, was a long-time receptionist of nearly 50 years at Harrington and is planning to attend trackside for the race named in her honor.

Trotters highlight the Wednesday card as finals will go post ward for colt and geldings in addition to fillies. Those finals will be 4th and 5th on the card with the fillies first as Jeff Clark’s She Is Strong (Anders Bluestone, Art Stafford Jr.) being the clear favorite for trainer/driver Stafford Jr. The filly dominated her eliminations and drew the rail.

The colt and gelding final are up next as Robert Allison Jr.’s Perfect Twenty (Yankee Royalty) will look to extend his win streak to 3 for trainer Cliff Green after two impressive elimination victories. The gelding will have to overcome post seven, however, to keep the streak intact.

The $50,000 Allen J Cook Jr. Memorial Trot will wrap up the pick five as the 6th race. A hard-hitting group of veteran trotters will face off in a race that honors the memory of long time racing official Cook, who was well-liked by his peers and passed away in 2020.

Live racing will continue on a Monday through Wednesday schedule with post time at 4:30 p.m.

For complete Monday race entries, click here.

by Matt Sparacino, for Harrington Raceway