by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, The Grand Circuit

This Week: Ben Franklin Pace, Earl Beal Jr. Memorial, Max C. Hempt Memorial and James M. Lynch Memorial finals, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Cleveland Trotting Classic, Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio; Graduate Series final, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J.; Miss Versatility, Mohawk Racetrack, Campbellville, Ontario; Hanover Stakes, Balmoral Park, Crete, Ill.; and Landmark Stakes, Historic Track, Goshen, N.Y.

Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit spotlight will once again be on The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono this Saturday night (July 4) as the track will host four lucrative stakes finals in the $500,000 Ben Franklin for older pacers, the $500,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial for 3-year-old male trotters, the $500,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old male pacers and the $300,000 James M. Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old filly pacers.

A trio of Friday night (July 3) stakes kick-off the Grand Circuit action this week with the $170,000 Cleveland Trotting Classic for older trotters, the $250,000 Graduate Series final for 4-year-old pacers and a C$40,000 leg of the Miss Versatility for older trotting mares.

Also on Saturday, Balmoral Park will host $35,000 (est.) divisions of the Hanover Stake for 3-year-old colt and filly trotters, while Historic Track will card eight Landmark Stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.

Complete entries for the U.S. races can be found by clicking on this link. Mohawk entries are available at this link.

Last time: Last weekend’s Grand Circuit action opened up on Friday night (June 26) at Meadowlands Racetrack with a $50,000 TVG Free For All trotting series leg and Obrigado made his debut in the series a winning one, scoring in impressive fashion in 1:51.3, a lifetime best performance.

Lisa photo

Obrigado was a 1:51.3 winner in the TVG Free For All Trot.

In his previous start, Obrigado found himself locked in throughout the mile while crying out for racing room in the stretch in a Meadowlands Open. Driver Mark MacDonald made sure that wouldn’t happen this time, putting his gelding in the game early.

But Obrigado had to work hard early on, parked out by DW’s NY Yank, the 9-5 favorite, and the two raced in tandem past the quarter in :26.3. Shortly after the trotters turned into the backstretch, Obrigado cleared the lead and it was a lead he would not relinquish. MacDonald effectively backed his trotter down to a :55.3 half-mile before reaching three-quarters in 1:25.1. In the stretch, Obrigado simply out-sprinted the field, kicking home in :26.2 to complete the triumph. Flanagan Memory rallied to finish second with Melady’s Monet overcoming traffic trouble in the stretch to finish third.

Obrigado is co-owned by his trainer Paul Kelley, Linwood Higgins, William Weaver III and Stable 45.

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono hosted 11 Grand Circuit races on Saturday, all eliminations for this week’s Sun Stakes Saturday card. Grabbing the headlines were the 3-year-old male pacers in the Max Hempt eliminations as Artspeak, Wiggle It Jiggleit and Wakizashi Hanover each posted victories.

Artspeak set an evenly-rated pace, looked to be threatened at head-stretch, but responded gamely late to withstand Pocono Pike challenger In The Arsenal for a 1:50 triumph. The son of Western Ideal showed his class to dig down and preserve a head margin at the wire, with Pierce Hanover only another three-quarters of a length behind and also advancing. Artspeak is trained by Tony Alagna for owners Brittany Farms (also co-breeder), Marvin Katz, Joe Sbrocco and the In The Gym Partners.

Wiggle It Jiggleit bounced back nicely after his first career loss, making a move in front of the stands to the front nearing the five-eighths and going on to an in-hand four length victory for driver Montrell Teague in 1:50.1. National Seelster, 67-1, had the good fortune of the Wiggle It Jiggleit cover for a quarter-mile, then the bad luck to be left raw, but he fought home gamely to beat early pacesetter Betting Exchange by a neck for place. The winning altered son of Mr Wiggles is now 12-for-13; Clyde Francis handles the training for George Teague Jr. Inc.

North America Cup champion Wakizashi Hanover completed a Hempt elim sweep for the favorites, rallying in the Pocono Pike to catch Lost For Words by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:50.4. A Bettor Hat finished third. The victorious Dragon Again gelding was guided by Tim Tetrick for trainer Joanne Looney-King and the Tri-County Stable.

Complete recaps of the weekend races, including the other eight Pocono stakes eliminations, are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2015, 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 Farm is the sponsor for the 2015 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders following the past weekend:

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 223; 2. Brian Sears – 218; 3. Tim Tetrick – 213; 4. David Miller – 177; 5. Daniel Dube – 157.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 335; 2. Jeff Bamond Jr. – 188; 3. Jimmy Takter – 160; 4. Rene Allard – 146; 5. Nifty Norman – 90.

Owners: 1. Bamond Racing – 165.5; 2. Burke Racing – 87.5; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 79.3; 4. Allard Racing – 46.9; 5. Jeff Snyder – 42.5.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next weekend at Meadowlands Racetrack, Balmoral Park and Yonkers Raceway. The Meadowlands will host the Graduate Series final for 4-year-old trotters, Reynolds divisions for 3-year-old colt and filly trotters, Meadowlands Pace and Mistletoe Shalee eliminations for 3-year-old colt and filly pacers, respectively, and William Haughton Memorial eliminations for older pacers; Balmoral will card Hanover Stakes for 3-year-old colt and filly pacers; and Yonkers features Lawrence Sheppard eliminations for 2-year-old colt pacers.