Grand Circuit Month at Mohawk Park

Harness Racing This Week: Canadian Pacing Derby, Maple Leaf Trot, Roses Are Red, Casual Breeze, and eliminations for the North America Cup, Fan Hanover, Goodtimes, William Wellwood Memorial and Peaceful Way, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont., and Reynolds Memorial and Miss Versatility Series leg, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.

Schedule of Events: Woodbine Mohawk Park will feature Grand Circuit action on Thursday (Sept. 2), Friday (Sept. 3) and Saturday (Sept. 4).

The Thursday card features three C$30,000 eliminations in the William Wellwood Memorial for 2-year-old male trotters and two C$30,000 eliminations in the Peaceful Way for 2-year-old filly trotters. On Friday, Mohawk has a pair of C$75,400 divisions of the Casual Breeze for 3-year-old filly trotters. The big Saturday card features the C$590,000 Canadian Pacing Derby for older pacers, the C$536,000 Maple Leaf Trot for older trotters, the C$316,000 Roses Are Red for older pacing mares, two C$50,000 North America Cup eliminations for 3-year-old pacers, two C$35,000 Fan Hanover eliminations for 3-year-old filly pacers and two C$30,000 Goodtimes eliminations for 3-year-old male trotters.

The Meadowlands on Friday night (Sept. 3) features Reynolds Memorial stakes for 2-year-olds. There will be single divisions in the $87,200 colt pace, the $76,300 filly pace and the $71,200 filly trot, and a pair of $42,600 divisions in the colt trot. The Big M will also host the $40,000 sixth leg of the Miss Versatility for older trotting mares.

Last Time: Spy Booth, who was 0 for 11 lifetime entering the race, broke his maiden in winning the $325,000 Zweig Memorial Saturday night (Aug. 28) at Vernon Downs.

The 3-year-old Muscle Hill-Amour Heiress gelding, who finished second in the Hambletonian, established a new lifetime mark of 1:52.3 in the victory and paid $21.60 to win.

After odds-on favorite Dancinginthedark M (Tim Tetrick) broke at the start, Spy Booth (Dexter Dunn), who left from post six, settled into fifth as Ambassador Hanover (Ake Svanstedt) led the field through fractions of :27 and :56.3.

Balenciaga (Scott Zeron), who would cross the finish line third but be placed second when Take All Comers (David Miller) was disqualified from second to fifth after a late break, took the lead after three-quarters in 1:24.1.

Spy Booth moved to the lead in the stretch and held on for the victory with a :28 final quarter.

With the disqualification of Take All Comers to fifth, Zenith Stride (Andrew McCarthy) was placed third and Goodashim (Andy Miller) was moved up to fourth.

Nancy Takter trains the first-time winner who is owned by John Fielding, David Anderson, Robert Leblanc, and Marvin Katz.

Spy Booth is the first maiden in history to win the Zweig. With his first career victory, he is now 1-3-2 in 12 lifetime starts and increased his career earnings to $435,582.

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 8-28-21):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 588; 2. Yannick Gingras – 550; 3. Tim Tetrick – 424; 4. David Miller – 412; 5. Andrew McCarthy – 394.5.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 693; 2. Nancy Takter – 391; 3. Tony Alagna – 325.5; 4. Marcus Melander – 298; 5. Ake Svanstedt – 277.

Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 135.9; 2. Weaver Bruscemi – 124.7; 3. Courant Inc. – 117; 4. Brad Grant – 112.7; 5. Black Horse Racing – 108.4.

Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Woodbine Mohawk Park and Eldorado Scioto Downs. Woodbine Mohawk Park will contest several stakes finals including the North America Cup for 3-year-old pacers, the Fan Hanover for 3-year-old female pacers, the Goodtimes for 3-year-old colt trotters, the William Wellwood Memorial for 2-year-old colt trotters and the Peaceful Way for 2-year-old filly trotters. Also on tap will be Champlain Stakes divisions for 2-year-old male and female pacers, the Simcoe Stakes for 3-year-old filly trotters and Armbro Flight eliminations for older trotting mares. Eldorado Scioto Downs will host the Jim Ewart Memorial for older pacers.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit