The week started and ended with the Grade 2 Progress Pace final for 3-year-olds on Wednesday (Nov. 26) at Dover Downs, the last Grand Circuit race of 2025.
Category: Grand Circuit News
Burke quintet set for Progress Pace final
Ron Burke will send out five horses in Wednesday’s $274,720 Grade 2 Progress Pace, for 3-year-old male pacers, at Bally’s Dover as he looks to add one more Grand Circuit victory to the best season of his Hall of Fame training career.
Pollack newcomers set for Progress Pace elims
When it comes to buying racehorses, Tom Pollack doesn’t often swing for the fences, generally opting to purchase established performers rather than yearlings, but that approach can still result in knocking one out of the park.
Big M to host, FOX to televise Final Four/FanDuel
The final big night of stakes action on harness racing’s 2025 calendar – Fall Final Four/FanDuel Championships Night – takes place Saturday (Nov. 15) night at the Meadowlands. In addition, the TV team at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) will combine forces with FOX Sports to bring those races to a national television audience on FOX Sports 2 (FS2), with a three-hour presentation that gets underway at 8 p.m.
Zeron reconnecting with recent winners for another round of stakes action
As the Grand Circuit season heads toward the finish line – this is the final week with multiple races on the schedule – driver Scott Zeron finds himself reunited with a number of recent graded stakes winners for action at Bally’s Dover and The Meadowlands.
Little change in Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll; five of Top 10 in action this week
There were no changes to the Top 10 in the Week 22 edition of the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released Wednesday, but that might not be the case next week as 15 of the horses receiving points will be in graded-stakes action at Bally’s Dover and The Meadowlands in the coming days.
Abuckabett Hanover to retire after FanDuel Championship
Harness racing’s biggest stars will battle on the track this Saturday (Nov. 15), in the 2025 FanDuel Championships & Fall Final Four Finals at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Seven-year-old Abuckabett Hanover will be honored in the Meadowlands winner’s circle following his final start in the seventh race on Saturday.
Matron Stakes descend on Dover
Thirty-two of the nation’s top 3-year-olds land at Bally’s Dover on Thursday (Nov. 13) to contest the Matron Stakes.
Graded Stakes Committee meetings Nov. 18-19 in Goshen
The Graded Stakes Committee will be meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 18-19) to review the committee’s guidelines, 2025 race results and grade the 2026 races.
Thai Hanover ready for another test in Matron
Mitchell York is not someone who typically races horses this late in the season, especially a 2-year-old, but Thai Hanover will be a rare exception when he goes behind the starting gate in Thursday’s $122,600 Grade 3 Matron Stakes for freshman male pacers at Bally’s Dover.