Category: Grand Circuit News

The road to the 100th edition of America’s Trotting Classic, the Grade 1 Hambletonian Stakes, begins Saturday (May 3) with the Grade 3 Dexter Cup for 3-year-old male trotters at The Meadowlands. The Dexter Cup is the season’s first Grand Circuit event for sophomore colt and gelding trotters and features four Hambletonian eligibles in the field. Leading that group is 8-5 morning-line favorite Hard Seven, who brings a four-race win streak to the Dexter Cup.

Matt Rowe debated whether to send Beautiful Seaside from her home in Ohio to compete in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series at MGM Yonkers Raceway, but as the event’s last preliminary round approaches on Friday, he’s happy with the decision to go. Beautiful Seaside has won two of her three races in the Matchmaker, which is for older female pacers, and heads into Friday’s action in sixth place in the series’ standings.

After three rounds of both the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series and MGM Borgata Pacing Series, trainer Peter Tritton is pleased with where his horses are positioned in the standings. But he also knows there is still work to be done in the six-week events at MGM Yonkers Raceway. Tritton-trained Silk Cloud A is in second place in the standings of the Matchmaker Series, which is for older female pacers. In the Borgata Series for older male pacers, Tritton’s Mossdale Ben N is in a three-way tie at the top of the standings while his Sherlock N is positioned for a spot in the consolation.

Matt Kakaley heads into Monday’s (April 14) third round of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series with three horses on the outside of the top eight in the standings, but each has an inside post position that the driver hopes can be used to pick up big points. Desperate Man, who won four preliminary rounds in last year’s series for older male pacers before finishing third in the final, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Monday’s first of four $50,000 Borgata divisions at MGM Yonkers Raceway. He will start from post two as he seeks his first victory in this year’s event.

Its A Me Mario is capable of bringing grins because of his name, but he also can do it with his performances. A stakes-winning 5-year-old son of American Ideal-NF Salsa, Its A Me Mario heads to Monday’s (April 7) second round of the MGM Borgata Pacing Series at MGM Yonkers Raceway as the 7-5 morning-line favorite in the first of five $50,000 divisions for the older male pacers.

Brian Gordon and Matt Morrison have thought highly of Rocket Deo since the day she was born, and their admiration for the pacing mare has only increased over time. Rocket Deo — a 4-year-old who is competing in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, an event won by her mother, Rocklamation, in 2012 — has captured 11 of 23 career races and earned $513,089 for owners Gordon and Morrison (as Morrison Racing Stables) and John Fielding.