This Week: Bluegrass Stakes, Red Mile, Lexington, Ky., and Dayton Pacing Derby, Dayton Trotting Derby, Dayton Oaks Derby and Dayton Distaff Derby, Hollywood Dayton Raceway, Dayton, Ohio.
Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action kicks off on Thursday (Sept. 26) at the Red Mile and the Lexington oval will feature five divisions in the $387,500 Bluegrass for 2-year-old colt trotters and four divisions in the $310,000 Bluegrass for 2-year-old filly pacers. On Friday (Sept. 27), Red Mile will offer six divisions in the $413,900 Bluegrass for 2-year-old filly trotters and three divisions in the $350,000 Bluegrass for 2-year-old colt pacers. The first week of racing in Lexington will conclude on Saturday (Sept. 28) with three divisions in the $256,900 Bluegrass for 3-year-old colt trotters, three divisions in the $252,200 Bluegrass for 3-year-old filly trotters, two divisions in the $197,000 Bluegrass for 3-year-old colt pacers, and two divisions in the $170,000 Bluegrass for 3-year-old filly pacers.
Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Saturday night (Sept. 28) will feature four Grand Circuit stakes in the $250,000 Dayton Pacing Derby for older pacers, the $250,000 Dayton Trotting Derby for older trotters, the $250,000 Dayton Oaks Derby for older female trotters and the $250,000 Dayton Distaff Derby for older female pacers.
Complete entries for the races are available at this link.
Last time: Maryland powered home to take all the spoils in the Mohawk Million, putting an exclamation point on a picture-perfect Saturday night (Sept. 21) for driver Dexter Dunn.
After taking the inside track, literally, to impressive victories in the C$347,000 Elegantimage (with French Champagne) and C$713,000 Canadian Trotting Classic (with Amazing Catch), Dunn engineered a different trip, but produced the same result, in the Mohawk Million.
Meshuggah, in rein to Scott Zeron, blasted off the wings and took the lead heading into the first turn, followed by Lookatmegoamigo, Go Ahead Makemyday and Lasting Dream, while Maryland sat an unfettered sixth through an opening panel in :27.1. It was status quo on the front end through a half in a tepid :56.2 as Dunn continued to hold a patient hand, now positioned seventh, on the 4-5 choice.
Meshuggah was still on top through three-quarters in 1:24.3 as Lasting Dream looked to ratchet up the pressure. Monalishi arrived on the scene in third while Maryland, now fourth, was five lengths off the leader but full of trot and rolling to the outside. Maryland, whose slot owner for the Million was Hunterton Farm, began to methodically pick off his rivals down the lane, blasting to the front with ease en route to a sharp 3-1/2 length score after a :27.1 final quarter. Lasting Dream was second, Meshuggah third, and Onajetplane finished fourth.
The final time was a stakes, track, and Canadian record 1:52.3.
“He was pretty aggressive tonight,” said Dunn. “He hasn’t really been like that before, and now the horse outside was pretty fired up on the gate too. And there was a bit going on, but we had a little bubble there before the gate left, but he luckily kept his gait. We still got away in a pretty decent position, and just around the last turn, I nearly lost him there for a bit, but he got himself up.
“I was still confident, especially coming off the last turn, and he was close enough that he’s fast enough.”
For the son of Chapter Seven-Crucial, who won the William Wellwood Stakes on Aug. 24 and the Peter Haughton Memorial on Sept. 13, it was the third straight command performance and biggest payday of his career.
“He’s probably the smartest colt I’ve been around,” said trainer Marcus Melander, who won the 2022 Million with Oh Well. “He wants to do his work. Then, you never know how much the other horses have left, but if he has the position to win when they’re turning from home, he’ll win.”
With Saturday’s win, Maryland is now 4-1-1 from seven starts, to go along with nearly C$1.1 million in lifetime earnings.
Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website. For a list of 2024 race winners on the Grand Circuit, click here.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2024, 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 2024 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders (through the races on 9-21-24):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 1,036; 2. Yannick Gingras – 644.5; 3. David Miller – 489; 4. James MacDonald – 486; 5. Scott Zeron – 467.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 677; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 530; 3. Nancy Takter – 410; 4. Marcus Melander – 384; 5. Anthony Beaton – 286.
Owners: 1. Determination – 205; 2. Burke Racing Stable – 156; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 129.9; 4. Hudson Standardbred Stable – 112.5; 5. Caviart Farms – 110.2.
Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next weekend at Lexington’s historic Red Mile. Featured at Red Mile will be the Kentucky Futurity, the third leg of Trotting’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. Also on tap will be the companion Kentucky Filly Futurity for the sophomore fillies, the Tattersalls Pace and the Glen Garnsey Memorial for 3-year-old pacers, four International Stallion Stakes races for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits, and four Allerage contests for open pacers and trotters.