Major Grand Circuit events this weekend

Harness Racing This Week: Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial, Saratoga Casino Hotel, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Spirit of Massachusetts and Clara Barton, Plainridge Park, Plainville, Mass; Tompkins-Geers, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J. and Delvin Miller Adios eliminations, The Meadows, Washington, Pa.

Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action begins on Saturday (July 23), as Saratoga will host the $250,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial for older pacers.

Also on Saturday, the Meadows has a pair of $25,000 eliminations for the Delvin Miller Adios for 3-year-old male pacers.

And finally on Saturday, The Meadowlands features a pair of divisions in the $87,500 Tompkins-Geers for 3-year-old male trotters and a pair of divisions in the $72,000 Tompkins-Geers stakes for 3-year-old filly trotters.

On Sunday (July 24), Plainridge has the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts for older trotters and the $100,000 Clara Barton for older pacing mares.

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

Last Time: The final chapter of the amazing Somebeachsomewhere saga reached its conclusion Saturday night (July 16) when his son Beach Glass won the $600,000 Meadowlands Pace.

It’s a long journey from Truro, Nova Scotia, to any of the major Standardbred racing centers.

Somebeachsomewhere took trainer Brent MacGrath and the partners in the Schooner Stable from the Canadian Maritimes on a magical journey. When it concluded, Somebeachsomewhere had won 20 of 21 career starts. The only prize to elude the Hall of Fame racehorse and stallion was the 2008 Meadowlands Pace, which he missed by only a neck that night at 1-10 to Art Official.

Here was MacGrath and the reconstituted Schooner II Stable back for another try after Beach Glass cruised to a dominant win in the previous week’s elimination with Yannick Gingras at the lines.

“I said to Yannick when he pulled up in the winner’s circle that I’ve been this far before,” MacGrath said after the elimination. “We need to finish this off.”

Beach Glass took care of that bit of business, a worthy tribute to his sire, who died in 2018. Beach Glass is a member of the final crop, and he did his daddy proud.

It was not an easy race. Beach Glass was hung out five-wide in the scramble on the first turn and had to work his way to the front up the backstretch. He no sooner cleared than I Did It Myway ranged up to apply ample pressure, but there was no denying this son of Somebeachsomewhere on this night.

“I wasn’t concerned,” Gingras said. “I wanted to be the last one to the front. I didn’t want to have to release somebody and then re-move. I wanted to be the last one there and when I was, I felt really, really confident. I honestly didn’t think he could lose. It was my job to give him clear racetrack, and he was going to do the rest.”

Beach Glass pulled clear in mid-stretch, and Gingras, a newly minted member of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, was caught up in the moment, raising his right arm and giving a fist pump as they flashed across the wire 1-3/4 lengths ahead of the late-closing Mad Max Hanover.

It was the third Pace victory for Gingras.

Beach Glass, the 1-5 choice, paid $2.60, covering the mile in 1:47.2 to set off the winner’s circle celebration.

“It feels awfully good, no question,” MacGrath said. “It’s a huge win. We had some bad luck in 2008. That’s racing, and this horse is just finding his stride and Yannick was talking about how strong he was in the homestretch. We should have a good remainder of the season if he just keeps doing what he’s been doing.”

It has already been a productive campaign with three wins in five starts and $518,750 in the bank.

MacGrath said that, despite an elimination win, Beach Glass wasn’t at his best for the North America Cup, where he finished second. The Pace elimination and final were better indicators of things to come.

“It’s unbelievable,” MacGrath said. “We bought the mare (Im With Her) to breed to Beach and pulled her out of training. She was a nice filly herself. We pulled her out of training when we only had the one shot at the frozen semen, and here we are tonight.”

Some journeys are long and winding. This one took 14 years…and it was well worth the wait.

​​Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website. For a list of 2022 race winners on the Grand Circuit, click here.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2022, 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 2022 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 7-16-22):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 502; 2. Tim Tetrick – 339; 3. Yannick Gingras – 303; 4. David Miller – 256; 5. Todd McCarthy – 254.

Trainers: 1. Tony Alagna – 280; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 257; 3. Ron Burke – 229; 4. Nifty Norman – 207; 5. Brett Pelling – 187.

Owners: 1. David McDuffee – 101.4; 2. Jesmeral Stable – 67; 3. Fiddler’s Creek Stables – 64.5; 4. Brad Grant – 60.8; 5t. Mark Ford – 60; 5t. Schooner II Stable – 60.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next week at The Meadows and The Meadowlands. The Meadows has the final for the Delvin Miller Adios for 3-year-old male pacers, along with the Adioo Volo for 3-year-old filly pacers and Arden Downs events for 2-year-old colt and filly pacers and trotters and 3-year-old colt and filly trotters. The Meadowlands has eliminations for four trotting stakes, The Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks for sophomores and the Peter Haughton and Jim Doherty for freshmen. Also at The Big M will be Tompkins-Geers races for 3-year-old colt and filly pacers and a leg of the Miss Versatility for trotting mares.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit