Woodbine Entertainment today released its latest “Road to the Pepsi North America Cup” rankings for the 2025 edition of Canada’s most prestigious harness race.
Category: Grand Circuit News
No lie, Sir Pinocchio is a dream come true
Sir Pinocchio authored a fairy-tale season for Carolyn and Irv Atherton in 2024. Their homebred male trotter won 10 times in stakes action — including the MGM Yonkers Trot, Matron Stakes, Dexter Cup and New York Sire Stakes championship — on his way to $640,902 in earnings. Now a 4-year-old, Sir Pinocchio will make his 2025 stakes debut Saturday when he faces 10 older rivals in the Grade 3 $158,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands.
Five Hambo hopefuls to start in Bunker Hill Trot at Plainridge
The Grand Circuit’s second stop of the season at Plainridge Park features the Grade 3 $100,000 Bunker Hill Open Trot for 3-year-olds on Thursday (May 15) afternoon. A full field of 10 will go postward and feature five horses who are eligible to the 100th edition of the Grade 1 $1.2 million Hambletonian Stake on Aug. 2.
Grand Circuit update
With the Borgata and Matchmaker legs and finals in the books, the Grand Circuit is off and racing in 2025.
Road to the Pepsi North America Cup – May 9
Woodbine Entertainment today released its first “Road to the Pepsi North America Cup” rankings for the 2025 edition of Canada’s most prestigious harness race.
Borgata final ‘a lot of unknowns’
Seven of the eight horses in Friday’s (May 9) Grade 1 $516,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series final at MGM Yonkers Raceway posted at least two wins during the event’s five preliminary rounds, with three of those older male pacers notching three victories apiece. So, it was perhaps no surprise to see five horses clustered between 5-2 and 5-1 on the morning line when the draw came out earlier this week. Mossdale Ben N, who had three wins and two seconds in the prelims, got the nod as the 5-2 pre-race choice and will leave from post five for driver Jordan Stratton and trainer Peter Tritton.
Making History leaps into Dave Little’s Road to the Meadowlands Pace Week 2
The second edition of Dave Little’s Road to The Meadowlands Pace saw a Tony Alagna trainee leap from obscurity all the way to No. 7 in the weekly poll.
‘Curdy’ aims to make some cheddar in Matchmaker final
Talk Curdy To Me needed a win in the last preliminary round of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series to qualify for the final, and the 5-year-old mare delivered. Now, she will attempt to cash in on that performance in Friday’s (May 9) Grade 1 final, which goes for a purse of $490,000 at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Post positions drawn for Borgata and Matchmaker Series finals
The post position draws for Friday night’s (May 9) Grade 1 $516,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series and Grade 1 $490,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series finals took place on Monday afternoon (May 5).
McCarthy seeks to roll with Hard Seven in Dexter
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.