Huge Grand Circuit action at The Meadowlands

Harness Racing This Week: Meadowlands Pace final, William Haughton Memorial, Hambletonian Maturity, Stanley Dancer Memorial, Delvin Miller Memorial, Jerry Silverman Memorial, Dorothy Haughton Memorial and Miss Versatility leg, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.

Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action will be held on Saturday (July 13) as The Meadowlands has multiple stakes led by the $650,000 Meadowlands Pace final for 3-year-olds. Also on the card will be the $428,000 William Haughton Memorial for older pacers, the $425,000 Hambletonian Maturity for 4-year-old trotters, two divisions in the $270,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial for 3-year-old male trotters, two divisions in the $250,000 Delvin Miller Memorial for 3-year-old filly trotters, two divisions in the $200,000 Jerry Silverman Memorial for 3-year-old filly pacers, the $140,000 Dorothy Haughton Memorial for older pacing mares and a $40,000 division in the fourth leg of the Miss Versatility for older trotting mares.

Complete entries for the races can be found by clicking on this link.

Last Time: Pepsi North America Cup winner Nijinsky stamped himself as the likely favorite in the $650,000 Meadowlands Pace final with a determined 1:47.3 score over rival Funtime Bayama in the second of two $50,000 eliminations of the summer classic for 3-year-old male pacers on Saturday (July 6) at the Meadowlands. Legendary Hanover captured the first elimination, giving trainer Anthony Beaton a sweep of both heats.

Driver Louis-Philippe Roy settled Nijinsky in fifth off a stampede to the first turn that saw Captain Luke (Scott Zeron) vault clear of McCrunch (Yannick Gingras) from his outside post eight through a taxing :25.4 first quarter, only to yield control to McCrunch upon reaching the backstretch. Meanwhile, Nijinsky latched onto live cover behind Captain Albano (Todd McCarthy), lost that cover when Captain Albano cleared with nine-sixteenths to go, and pushed clear himself just beyond a :53.1 half.

There was no respite for Nijinsky after he made the lead as Funtime Bayama (Dexter Dunn) — who was third-over on the backstretch — aggressively took aim midway on the far turn, and the two dueled past three-quarters in 1:21.1 and off the corner for home.

Nijinsky stood his ground in the stretch, though, and repelled his outside challenger by three-quarters of a length in a career-best showing. Captain Albano became rough-gaited in upper stretch and finished a detached third, 3-1/2 lengths farther behind, followed by Captain Luke and Its Saturday Night (Andy McCarthy).

Nijinsky is a perfect six-for-six this season, and now has won seven of his 16 career races for the partnership of West Wins Stable, John Fielding and Mark Dumain. He paid $4.80 to win as the narrow 7-5 favorite.

The first elimination saw Mirage Hanover (Tim Tetrick) protect inside position to establish the early lead over Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality (Dunn) through a :26.3 first quarter while Canada’s 2024 National Driving Champion James MacDonald settled Legendary Hanover in third. Mirage Hanover maintained control of the pace through a rated :55.1 half, and the top trio remained unchallenged on the far turn after the first-over Ivy Park (Gingras) failed to get any closer than four lengths from the lead on the far turn before fading.

After hitting three-quarters in 1:22.4, Mirage Hanover found himself under pressure from Gem Quality, who edged out of the pocket turning for home. With Ivy Park weakening off the corner, MacDonald had room to hook Legendary Hanover three-wide in upper stretch, and the Huntsville-Lillian Hanover colt surged to the fore with a sixteenth to go, capping his 1:48 lifetime-best performance with an astonishing :24.4 sprint home. Mirage Hanover narrowly held off Gem Quality for second, 1-1/4 lengths back; Captain’s Quarters (Jody Jamieson) and Number Cruncher (Zeron) completed the top five finishers.

It was the ninth career win in 15 starts for Legendary Hanover, who races for the partnership of Eric Good, West Wins Stable and Mark Dumain. As the 5-2 second choice, he paid $7.00 to win.

​​Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website. For a list of 2024 race winners on the Grand Circuit, click here.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2024, 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 2024 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 7-6-24):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 339; 2. Yannick Gingras – 338.5; 3. Tim Tetrick – 182; 4. Scott Zeron – 173; 5. Matt Kakaley – 167.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 284; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 187; 3. Travis Alexander – 182; 4. Nancy Takter – 173; 5. Anthony Beaton – 129.

Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 68.8; 2. Guy Corbeil – 57; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 51.9; 4t. Kathy Cecchin – 50; 4t. Symmetry Stables – 50.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next week at Saratoga Casino Hotel, Plainridge Park, The Meadowlands and The Meadows. Saratoga will host the Joe Gerrity for older pacers, Plainridge has the Spirit of Massachusetts for older trotters and the Clara Barton for older pacing mares, The Meadowlands has the Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old trotters and the Meadows has the eliminations for the Delvin Miller Adios for 3-year-old male pacers.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit