by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, the Grand Circuit

This Week: Dan Patch, Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; Carl Milstein Memorial, 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. 9) as the Indiana State Fair will host one day of Grand Circuit racing with the feature being the $51,929 Fox Stake for 2-year-old colt pacers. The co-featured event is the $32,580 Ralph Wilfong for 2-year-old colt trotters. The Hoosier Stakes for 2-year-olds will see two divisions each in the $26,047 2-year-old filly trot and the $24,396 2-year-old filly pace, and single divisions in the $20,860 2-year-old colt pace and the $18,385 2-year-old colt trot. The Horseman Stakes for 3-year-olds features single divisions in the $34,134 3-year-old colt pace, the $32,154 3-year-old colt trot, the $31,021 3-year-old filly trot and the $26,373 3-year-old filly pace.

Friday night (Aug. 11) at Hoosier Park will feature the $325,000 Dan Patch for older pacing horses. As the richest horse in the field with $2.4 million in lifetime purse earnings, All Bets Off will play the role of morning line choice at odds of 7-2 from post two.

On Saturday (Aug. 12), Northfield Park will host the $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial for 3-year-old pacers featuring Fear The Dragon, the No. 1 ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll.

Also on Saturday, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino will host one of two trials for the Gold Cup and Saucer for older pacers. The second trial will be held on Monday (Aug. 14).

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: Meadowlands Racetrack closed out their Championship Meet this past Saturday with several lucrative Grand Circuit races led by the $1.2 million Hambletonian, the first leg of trotting’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. Perfect Spirit was the winner by disqualification. It was the first time a horse first under the wire had his number taken down in the 92 editions of the $1 million trotting classic for 3-year-olds.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Perfect Spirit (right) and trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt captured the $1 million Hambletonian final after What The Hill and driver David Miller were disqualified for interference in the stretch.

What The Hill squeezed off the pylons in deep stretch and sprinted past the pacesetting Perfect Spirit in a time of 1:52.3 as the crowd cheered what appeared to be the first Hambo winner for trainer Ron Burke and driver David Miller. But then the inquiry sign flashed on the toteboard. The judges studied the replay and detected contact between What The Hill and Guardian Angel AS, who broke stride. After a lengthy review, the Hambletonian had its first DQ. What The Hill was placed ninth and Perfect Spirit was stunningly on his way to the winner’s circle.

Winning owner Lennart Agren, who races as the SRF Stable, chalked the victory up to the breaks of the game.

“I know you have to be very lucky like we were today,” he said. “It can end very quickly, so you have to live in the moment right now.”

The win gave international trotting master Ake Svanstedt, 58, his first Hambo win as both a trainer and driver in only his fourth year in the U.S.

Perfect Spirit paid $17 for his fifth win in nine starts this season. In the revised order of finish, Devious Man moved up to second and Enterprise was placed third.

Huntsville got to the lead in the first turn and never looked back, winning Saturday’s $334,325 Cane Pace for 3-year-old pacers by a neck over R J P in 2:03 at the extended distance of 1-1/8 miles at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Downbytheseaside was third.

Starting from post one in a field of 12, Huntsville and driver Tim Tetrick outdueled longshot Lawrencetown Beach for the lead as the field entered the first turn and reached the quarter in :25.4. Lawrencetown Beach remained parked out on the backstretch, with Downbytheseaside on the pylons in third, as Huntsville hit the half in :54.

R J P made a three-wide move around Lawrencetown Beach and moved into second as the group neared three-quarters, which was reached in 1:21.4. Huntsville and R J P battled through the stretch, timed in 1:49 for a mile, with Huntsville prevailing for his seventh win in 10 starts this year.

Trainer Ray Schnittker co-owns Huntsville with Ted Gewertz, Steve Arnold, and Crawford Farms Racing. The colt is a son of Somebeachsomewhere out of the mare Wild West Show. Huntsville has won 14 of 21 career races and never finished worse than second. He has earned $1.57 million.

Complete recaps of all the weekend races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2017, 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 2017 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders through and including the races on Aug. 5.

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 600; 2. David Miller – 479; 3. Tim Tetrick – 423; 4. Scott Zeron – 310; 5. Jason Bartlett – 238.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 510; 2. Jimmy Takter – 417; 3. Brian Brown – 215; 4. Ray Schnittker – 187; 5. Rene Allard – 159.

Owners: 1. Emerald Highlands Farm – 145; 2. Harry von Knoblauch Stable – 123.5; 3. Burke Racing Stable – 114.5; 4. Weaver Bruscemi – 92.9; 5. J&T Silva Stables – 88.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino and Hippodrome 3R. Vernon will kick off the week as host of the Zweig Memorial races for 3-year-old colt and filly trotters. Tioga Downs will feature the Roll With Joe for open pacers, Tompkins-Geers races for 2-year-old pacers and trotters, and a leg of the Miss Versatilty for trotting mares. Red Shores Racetrack & Casino has the Gold Cup and Saucer final and Hippodrome 3R will contest the Prix d’Ete for 4-year-old pacers.