The sizzling heat on a steamy Saturday night (July 4) at The Meadowlands bubbled into electric miles in the pair of $230,000 Grade 2 Stan Bergstein Graduate Series Finals with On To Norway torching a stakes record in winning the Graduate Trot and Captain Optimistic barreling to equal the all-age North American season’s record in the Graduate Pace.
Category: Grand Circuit Results
Brandon Blvd dominant in Pace elimination
Forgoing a bye to the $810,000 Grade 1 Meadowlands Pace final, Brandon Blvd served notice to his nine rivals in the lone $50,000 elimination of the midsummer classic for 3-year-old pacers on Saturday (July 4) at the Meadowlands, delivering a devastating 1:47.3 win.
Endurance sets Currier & Ives record
The Friday (June 26) harness racing card at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows gave racing fans a featured attraction in the Currier & Ives Trot for 3-year-old colts and geldings, along with a glimpse of the future in two Pop-Up Series divisions for 2-year-old pacing fillies.
Inexpressable rallies to MGM Yonkers Trot title
Add an extra quarter of a mile to the $250,000 Grade 2 MGM Yonkers Trot, and you have a recipe for a wild finish. That proved to be the case on Friday night (June 26) when Inexpressable and driver Tim Tetrick rallied off of a third-over cover trip and charged by the field to capture the opening leg of Trotting’s Triple Crown at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Fragment first in MGM Grand Messenger Stakes final
Fragment, who was last year’s New York Sire Stakes, Big Apple and Matron winner, rebounded off a third-place finish in the sire stakes most recently at Buffalo to capture the Grade 2 $200,000 MGM Grand Messenger Stakes final for 3-year-old male pacers on Friday night (June 26) at MGM Yonkers Raceway. The Messenger, which was conducted at the distance of a mile and a quarter this year, is the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown.
Fillies contest Currier & Ives splits
Hollywood Casino at The Meadows’ Thursday afternoon (June 25) card was highlighted by two Currier & Ives 3-year-old filly trot races and three Pop-Up Series divisions later to keep the crowd’s attention.
Odds On Mr Mamba wins Pepsi North America Cup classic
In a sophomore showdown for glory, prestige, and a place in the history books, it was the diminutive Odds On Mr Mamba who came up huge in the 43rd edition of the Grade 1 C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup on Saturday night (June 13) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Loua Dipa game in record-breaking Fan Hanover win
Driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. confidently stuck inside the pocket with Loua Dipa into the last turn and found clearance coming for home to emerge victorious from a neck-and-neck sprint to the finish with unbeaten Be Perfect BG for a stakes-, track- and Canadian-record victory in the C$420,000 Grade 1 Fan Hanover, for 3-year-old pacing fillies, on Saturday (June 13) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Thorn in their side: Miki And Minnie takes Roses Are Red
Miki And Minnie, sent on her way as the 8-5 choice, rocketed home to take all the spoils in the Grade 1 C$320,000 Roses Are Red final at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday (June 13).
Bourbonista S blows away competition in Armbro Flight upset
Sent the third longest shot in the betting, Marcus Melander trainee Bourbonista S bounded off the gate from post 9 for a pocket seat and shook free at the right time spinning for home to dart through a wide inside gap and crush her competition in the C$215,000 Grade 2 Armbro Flight, for older trotting mares, at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday night (June 13).