Capt Jack Hanover and trainer/driver John MacDonald captured the featured $7,500 pace at Vernon Downs on Saturday (Aug. 9).
Author: by John Horne, for Vernon Downs
Setyoursightshigh goes for four in a row
On Monday (Aug. 11), the Red Mile will host a 16-race card with the spotlight on freshman filly trotters in two $80,000 divisions of the Kentucky Championship Series.
Fast miles and upsetters Saturday at Pocono
Sun Stakes Saturday, with its over $2 million in purses, will be taking place at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania next Saturday (Aug. 16). Based on the times turned in at the mountain oval this Saturday afternoon (Aug. 9) – seven of 11 paces beating 1:50, and both trots under 1:53 – the record books may be altered more than once on the big card.
OHHA to stream Mercer, Muskingum (Ohio) meets
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association (OHHA) will continue its 2025 Ohio county fair racing season with live-streaming coverage from the Mercer County and Muskingum County fairs on Sunday and Monday (Aug. 10-11).
Record performances Friday at Scioto
Track records were set in back-to-back races Friday (Aug. 8) at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
Ohio Sires Stakes bonanza on tap Sunday at Northfield
A battle between Odds On Chesapeake and Odds On Hialeah headlines six Ohio Sires Stakes races at MGM Northfield Park on Sunday (Aug. 10).
Garden State Trot No. 8 rescheduled
Horsepeople are advised that, due to a conflict caused by preseason NFL football at MetLife Stadium, the Garden State Trot No. 8, sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, has been rescheduled to Friday, Aug. 15, at the Meadowlands.
Fast Choice, Smooth Dream lead Winbak stars in G2 Milstein
Fans don’t often hear about the beginnings of the lives of harness racing champions. Winbak Farm, second in North America in 2025 earnings and wins of horses they have bred, is one farm who shares the beginnings of many of their foals by posting pictures and updates on their multiple social media platforms and website. And In Saturday’s (Aug. 9) Grade 2 $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial, at MGM Northfield Park, they account for two of the top 3-year-olds entered: Fast Choice and Smooth Dream.
Sabonis sensational in Grade 2 Dan Patch
The Hoosier homecoming was a victorious one for Sabonis as the Indiana-bred returned to Harrah’s Hoosier Park for the first time in 2025 to post a 1:49.2 win in the Grade 2 $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes, presented by Indiana Standardbred Breed Development, on Friday (Aug. 8).
Perfect Sting progeny stun in Home Grown
In the wake of PA Perfect’s 20-1 upset in the $50,000 Home Grown for 2-year-old pacing fillies, Everlast Sting Deo refused to be outdone and threw down a vicious :26 sprint home to break his maiden in the $48,000 Home Grown for 2-year-old male pacers and give sire Perfect Sting a sweep of Friday’s (Aug. 8) co-featured events at the Meadowlands.