Stars prepping for 2024 in Big M qualifiers

Hightstown, NJ — Dan Patch Award winners Captain Albano (Captaintreacherous) and Jiggy Jog S (Walner), O’Brien Award winner T C I (Cantab Hall), and Breeders Crown champs Southwind Tyrion (Muscle Hill) and My Girl EJ (Sweet Lou) will make their first appearances of the year when The Meadowlands hosts 15 harness racing qualifiers beginning at 9 a.m. (EDT) Friday.

Jiggy Jog S and Southwind Tyrion are from the stable of Ake Svanstedt, who was voted 2023 Trainer of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Jiggy Jog S, a 5-year-old female trotter who earned $1.03 million in 2023, was no worse than second in any of her 11 races, winning eight, last season. Her victories included the Breeders Crown, Dayton Oaks and Graduate Series final, where she defeated male rivals. She was second in the MGM Yonkers International.

Southwind Tyrion, a 6-year-old male trotter, finished last season’s campaign with victories in the Breeders Crown and FanDuel Open Trot championship. In 2020, he became the fastest 2-year-old male trotter in history with a 1:51.1 win, then battled issues the next two seasons, missing his 3-year-old campaign and racing only six times at 4. Last year, he won five of 12 starts and earned $655,816.

Captain Albano, last season’s fastest 2-year-old male pacer, with a mark of 1:49.2, won seven of nine races for trainer Noel Daley. The colt was a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion in addition to winning Bluegrass and International Stallion divisions.

TCI won 10 of 12 races last year and led all 2-year-old trotters with $1.23 million in purses. He became the first freshman male trotter to surpass the million-dollar mark (later joined by Karl) and fell only $13,776 shy of Snow White’s record $1.25 million for a 2-year-old trotter set in 2007. The Ron Burke trainee received the O’Brien Award for best 2-year-old male trotter to compete in Canada, where he went 3-for-3 and was its season’s fastest 2-year-old colt trotter, with a mark of 1:54.1.

My Girl EJ, a filly trained by Burke, was last season’s fastest 2-year-old pacer (1:49.1) as well as richest freshman pacer ($698,397). She hit the board in 12 of 13 races, winning five.

Visit the Big M website for program pages for the qualifiers.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA