Big week for Grand Circuit action

Harness Racing This Week: Dan Patch Invitational, Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; Carl Milstein Memorial, MGM Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio; Fox Stake, the Ralph Wilfong, the Horseman Stakes and the Hoosier Stakes, Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, Ind.; and Gold Cup and Saucer trials, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino, Charlottetown, PEI.

Schedule of events: An extremely busy week of Grand Circuit action kicks off this Wednesday (Aug. 11) as The Indiana State Fair will host one day of Grand Circuit racing with the feature being the $60,631 Fox Stake for 2-year-old colt pacers. The co-featured event is the $42,492 Ralph Wilfong for 2-year-old colt trotters. The Hoosier Stakes for 2-year-olds will see two divisions each in the $26,498 2-year-old filly pace and $24,848 2-year-old filly trot and single divisions in the $22,991 2-year-old colt pace and $22,936 2-year-old colt trot. The Horseman Stakes for 3-year-olds features single divisions in the $34,283 3-year-old colt pace, the $31,560 3-year-old colt trot, the $27,086 3-year-old filly trot, and the $26,811 3-year-old filly pace.

Friday night (Aug. 13) at Hoosier Park will feature the $325,000 Dan Patch Invitational for older pacing horses.

On Saturday (Aug. 14), Northfield Park will host the $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial for 3-year-old pacers. Also on Saturday, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino will host two of three trials for the Gold Cup and Saucer for older pacers. The third trial will be held on Monday (Aug. 16).

Complete entries for the U.S. races are available at this link. Entries for the Red Shores Racetrack & Casino races are available at this link.

Last Time: Captain Corey dictated the fractions under intense pressure and pulled clear in the lane to win Saturday’s (Aug. 7) $1 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Captain Corey beat Spy Booth by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:51 despite trotting through a :26 opening quarter, the fastest opening fraction in the stake’s 96-year history.

It gave trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt his second win in the classic for 3-year-old trotters. This time, there was no doubt about the outcome. No asterisk. No intervention by the judges.

Svanstedt got his first Hambletonian trophy in 2017 when Perfect Spirit was elevated to victory after What The Hill was disqualified for interference.

This time, Captain Corey took care of business with a determined effort. Svanstedt fired Captain Corey into the battle right from the start and soon had company in the form of Cuatro De Julio.

Driver Lucas Wallin looked to drop Cuatro De Julio into a pocket trip behind the leader, only to have Yannick

Gingras, piloting Delayed Hanover for Svanstedt, close the hole.

Wallin had no choice but to continue the attack.

“He’s a good horse who will fight, but he was a strong horse today,” Svanstedt said.

That was an understatement.

Cuatro De Julio pressed on, ensuring Captain Corey never had a breather around the second turn. After dispatching Cuatro De Julio at the top of the stretch, Captain Corey pulled clear and enjoyed open daylight in the march to the finish line.

“I was worried they were going to come from behind,” Svanstedt said.

Svanstedt looked over his shoulder several times in the lane, only to see nobody in range. Captain Corey was on his way.

Just as in last week’s elimination, Captain Corey was the boss right from the start. The win was his eighth in 12 career starts for the son of Googoo Gaagaa-Luv U All who earned $500,000 for the ownership team of Svanstedt, S R F Stable, Knutsson Trotting and Midnight Sun Partners.

Earlier in the year, Svanstedt was concerned when Captain Corey went through a growth spurt that compromised his gait. Since then, the boy developed into a man, and a Hambletonian champion at that!

And the good news didn’t end there for the 62-year-old horseman from Sweden who is making his mark on North American trotting as Ambassador Hanover rallied from last to get third, giving Svanstedt a 1-3 finish. Since arriving in the U.S. in 2014, Svanstedt’s stable has earned more than $30 million in purses.

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 8-7-21):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 528; 2. Yannick Gingras – 495; 3. Tim Tetrick – 407; 4. Andrew McCarthy – 369.5; 5. David Miller – 355.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 673; 2. Nancy Takter – 326; 3. Tony Alagna – 303.5; 4. Marcus Melander – 256; 5. Ake Svanstedt – 222.

Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 130.8; 2. Weaver Bruscemi – 119.6; 3. Courant Inc. – 117; 4. Black Horse Racing – 108.4; 5. Brad Grant – 100.2.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and Red Shores Racetrack & Casino. Pocono will host four events for 3-year-olds – the Earl Beal Memorial (colt and gelding trot), the Max C. Hempt Memorial (colt and gelding pace), the James Lynch Memorial (filly pace) and the Delmonica Hanover (filly trot). Red Shores has the Gold Cup and Saucer final for older pacers.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit