Hoosier and Mohawk host Grand Circuit racing

Harness Racing This Week: Peter Haughton Memorial and Jim Doherty Memorial, Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; Milton Stakes final, and Canadian Trotting Classic, Elegantimage, Metro Pace and She’s A Great Lady eliminations, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont.

Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action will commence on Friday (Sept. 15) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park with the $420,000 Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old trotting males and the $400,000 Jim Doherty Memorial for 2-year-old trotting fillies.

Woodbine Mohawk Park will feature Grand Circuit action on Saturday (Sept. 16) with the C$220,000 Milton Stakes final for older pacing mares headlining the card. The Saturday card also features two C$40,000 Canadian Trotting Classic eliminations for 3-year-old open trotters, two C$35,000 Elegantimage eliminations for 3-year-old trotting fillies, two C$40,000 Metro Pace eliminations for 2-year-old open pacers and two C$35,000 She’s A Great Lady eliminations for 2-year-old pacing fillies.

Complete entries for the Hoosier Park races are available at this link. Entries for the Woodbine Mohawk Park races are available a this link.

Last Time: Vivid Wise As (Yankee Glide), representing Italy in this past Saturday’s $1 million MGM Yonkers International Trot at MGM Yonkers Raceway, took advantage of a quick start to get the lead from post one, repelled multiple challengers throughout, and drew off in the closing stages to win the race in 2:23.1 over the distance of 1-1/4 miles.

Driven by Matthieu Abrivard, Vivid Wise As, racing without shoes, stepped out quickly from the pole position but was faced with immediate pressure on the outside from Fashion Frenzie (Louis-Philippe Roy), and they would trot to the quarter like that in :28.3. Meanwhile, Etonnant (Anthony Barrier) had not had a quick beginning from post two and then elected to drive on three-wide to take up the first-over position from Fashion Frenzie prior to the :57.3 half-mile point.

The expected and hoped-for confrontation between Vivid Wise As and Etonnant was on from there, and Vivid Wise As used his rail position to keep Etonnant parked through three-quarters in 1:26.3. Etonnant then began to tire past that pole as It’s Academic (David Miller), hoping to bring the International Trot title to the U.S., made a three-wide charge from fourth-over that carried him into the first-over slot and alongside Vivid Wise As at the mile, which went on the board in 1:55.2.

It’s Academic could not sustain his bid, though, and Vivid Wise As accelerated away from him and pocket-sitter Jiggy Jog S (Dexter Dunn) in the final quarter en route to the victory by 2-3/4 lengths. Jiggy Jog S, who started behind Vivid Wise As in the trailing post nine, was the runner-up, and Bengurion Jet, driven by Vivid Wise As’s trainer Alessandro Gocciadoro, made it a memorable day for that barn by rallying to finish third. It’s Academic had to settle for fourth and Australia’s Aldebaran Zeus collected fifth money.

“He went really fast today. He wanted to see if anyone made any moves and if anyone was going to attack, but nothing really happened, so after the first turn, he really controlled the race and did what he wanted to do all the way,” Abrivard said via interpreter Kristin Riise Ødegård. “On small tracks like this, he’s a horse that’s very difficult to get around. He knew that after he got a good post position, and he got a good start that the other horses had to do a lot of work on the outside to catch him. He knew it was going to work out for him pretty quickly.”

Vivid Wise As, a 9-year-old Yankee Glide stallion bred by Atlantic Trot Inc. and owned by Bivans SRL and Bruni Racing Team AB, picked up his 35th win from 86 career starts and has now earned $3,626,865. He paid $7.50 to win as the 5-2 favorite and led a $56 exacta and a $646 trifecta.

“He’s very happy because he’s done this job for a long time and now all of his dreams are coming true,” Gocciadoro stated via Kristin Riise Ødegård.

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 9-9-23):

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 619; 2. Dexter Dunn – 590; 3. Tim Tetrick – 501; 4. Scott Zeron – 460; 5. David Miller – 434.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 744; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 554; 3. Tony Alagna – 339; 4. Nancy Takter – 333; 5. Marcus Melander – 261.

Owners: 1. Diamond Creek Racing – 220.1; 2. Mark Ford – 148; 3. Burke Racing Stable – 147.7; 4. Hudson Standardbred Stable – 140; 5. Brad Grant – 105.5.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit racing will be taking place next week at the Delaware County (Ohio) Fair, Hoosier Park, Woodbine Mohawk Park and Tioga Downs. Delaware will host nine Grand Circuit races, led by the Little Brown Jug for 3-year-old pacers. Hoosier Park features eight Grand Circuit races, including the Caesars Trotting Classic for open trotters. Mohawk Park’s week will include the Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trotters, Canadian Trotting Classic and Elegantimage finals for 3-year-old trotters and the Metro Pace and She’s A Great Lady finals for freshman pacers. Tioga will host Reynolds Memorial races for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit