Hightstown, NJ – Emoticon Legacy, who in his most recent start won the Goodtimes Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park with the fastest mile ever by a 3-year-old trotter in Canada, will meet returning Dan Patch and O’Brien awards winner Maryland on Thursday in the $320,000 Grade 2 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial at Vernon Downs.
The Zweig Memorial attracted seven 3-year-old male trotters. Joining Emoticon Legacy and Maryland in the field are Hidalgo, Tactical Dynasty, Chat Room, Onajetplane, and Meshuggah. All are eligible to the 100th edition of the Hambletonian Stakes on Aug. 2 at The Meadowlands.
Emoticon Legacy, trained by Luc Blais, will have Louis Roy in the sulky for the Zweig. On June 14, the colt and Roy teamed to capture the Goodtimes by 3-1/4 lengths in 1:50.2. The time set the record for sophomore trotters and equaled the all-age record in Canada.
The homebred son of Walner-Emoticon Hanover is 2-for-2 this year and has won six of nine races lifetime, earning $257,596 for owner Determination stable.
“Well, this year he’s a different horse,” Blais said after the Goodtimes. “Last year, he was a little bit anxious, and didn’t know how to control his emotion, I think. But this year, I think we know him. He’s more easy. I started differently with him, and it’s worked out.
“I know he’s got lots of speed, but he just needs to control his emotion.”
Maryland made his seasonal debut on June 13 in a division of the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon. He finished second to stablemate Super Chapter, who this past Friday won the MGM Yonkers Trot, the first jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown.
Trained by Marcus Melander, Maryland won six of nine races in 2024 and led the sport with $1.22 million in purses. He finished his campaign with a five-race victory streak that included the Mohawk Million, a Breeders Crown, Peter Haughton Memorial and William Wellwood Memorial.
He trotted 1:51.1 in the EBC, with a last quarter of :26.2. Dexter Dunn will drive the son of Chapter Seven-Crucial for owners Courant Inc., PCW Racing, Holly Lane Stud East, and SStewartRThorn Stable.
Maryland will leave from post two, Emoticon Legacy from post five. Maryland is ranked No. 2 in Meadowlands announcer/analyst Ken Warkentin’s Road to the Hambletonian; Emoticon Legacy is No. 3.
Ron Burke-trained Hidalgo heads to the Zweig off a win in the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship on June 13. Meshuggah, another Melander trainee, won a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes in his most recent, June 8 at Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs. He was the PASS champ in 2024.
Nine 3-year-olds entered the $135,000 filly division of the Zweig Memorial, also a Grade 2 event. The group includes 2024 Goldsmith Maid Stakes winner What A Bid Hanover and runner-up Voguish, who were separated by a nose at the finish. Also entered was Shes A Shoe In, who won a division of the New York New York Mile this past Friday at Yonkers and was a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion last season.