by Tom White, publicity director, The Little Brown Jug

Delaware, OH — Millionaire pacing colts Well Said and Vintage Master will be the overwhelming favorites of 50,000 or so fans in Thursday’s (Sept. 24) 64th Little Brown Jug to be raced at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.

Well Said ($2,218,438) won both the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace, pacing’s two richest 3-year-old stakes races, and prepped for the Jug by winning a division of last Saturday’s Simcoe Stakes in Ontario. Vintage Master ($1,135,222), who has been solid all season, gained momentum with his victory over Labor Day weekend in the Cane Pace.

Jeff Snyder, who owns Well Said in partnership with Susan Grange’s Lothlorien Equestrian Center, always frets about the draw for post positions because of Delaware’s half-mile track.

“I always hold my breath until I hear how my horse drew. Well Said has never raced on a half-mile track but he’s the best and fastest horse I’ve ever had.”

Trainer Steve Elliott, who developed 2007 Hambletonian champion and Horse of the Year Donato Hanover, says, “The Jug is one of the few races I haven’t won and this is my best shot.”

Snyder, who will be bringing his granddaughter to Delaware this year, says, “There is no other race that can compare to the Little Brown Jug. It is so exciting, so uplifting and there are so many people close to the action. And, I love walking around the fairgrounds.”

Snyder has started nine horses in the Jug and won in 2002 with Million Dollar Cam. However, Snyder’s favorite 3-year-old colt, Cam’s Card Shark, suffered a career-ending injury when he was scratched lame during the post parade in 1994. Three of Snyder’s Jug starters, Mystical Shark (1999), Royalflush Hanover (1999) and Village Jolt (2005) captured elimination heats. Rocknroll Hanover (2005) was jointly owned by Snyder and Susan Grange’s mother.

Well Said, who is heading for the stallion barn at Hanover Shoe Farms in 2010, holds a 3-1 advantage over Vintage Master in earlier matchups this year. The son of 1992 Jug runner-up Western Hanover defeated Vintage Master in the Meadowlands Pace elimination and final and the Battle of the Brandywine. Vintage Master upset Well Said in the Adios Pace Final.

Vintage Master’s trainer Jimmy Takter thinks his colt can beat Well Said.

“I won the (2006) Jug with Mr Feelood and he was a quick horse and could leave the gate and Vintage can leave the gate, too. In this race, you’re going to get a lot of respect for that.”

Following his Cane victory, Takter said, “I got very emotional. This was the first time he cut the mile. He is the laziest horse God ever created. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse lazier than him. He is a character.”

Takter added, “His heart rate was 78 after the Cane Pace. We always check the heart rate on our horses about 12 minutes after the race and mostly they are in the mid to high 90s. It’s like the horse never got put in gear. That’s what makes him special. I’m excited going into the Jug.”

Vintage Master, by Western Ideal, is a homebred owned by George Segal of Brittany Farms and Brian Monieson Trust.

Ohio longshot to challenge top colts

So, why is $65,637 winner Born To Rocknroll challenging these two millionaires? Owned by Douglas Shepherd of Johnstown, Ohio and trained by hometown Delaware horseman Ron Potter, Born To Rocknroll probably will be the longest longshot in the Little Brown Jug.

“He’s been racing better back east and seems to be improving with each start,” said Potter. “We brought him back home and he’s been training over the Delaware track. I think with a decent draw, he will be OK.”

Born To Rocknroll has two wins and three thirds in 10 starts this season and 2009 earnings of $16,016. He won an overnight at Pocono Downs on August 15 in 1:52.4. He finished eighth in his elimination of the Adios, his only open stakes effort.

The colt’s owner must pay $6,000 to enter Born To Rocknroll against the likes of Well Said and Vintage Master. Perhaps Mr. Shepherd remembers last year when Born To Rocknroll captured a division of the Standardbred Stake at Delaware with newly elected Hall of Fame driver Dave Palone in the sulky.