by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — There’s no doubt in my mind that the Little Brown Jug is the greatest show in American harness racing and last week’s race proved it once again.

The weather was perfect and you could make a strong case for several horses coming into the race. We knew it wouldn’t be a walkover.

Delaware is Americana at its finest — the county fair setting, the junk food stands, the midway rides, and thousands and thousands of racing fans. And lots of history.

One question will resonate forever after this year’s Jug: Should Brian Sears have pulled Always A Virgin coming to the half and sat outside Tell All in the final half? Some say yes; that was his only chance to win. Others say no; first up outside a top horse on a half-mile track is sure suicide.

We’ll never know. Always A Virgin swept past Tell All and Hot Rod Mindale just beyond the wire, but that doesn’t mean much.

Hindsight is always perfect and Brian Sears knows a lot more about driving than most of us.

In the traditional parade of harness racing, the sport’s finest now move on to The Red Mile. While the Jug may be the greatest show in American harness racing, surely the Grand Circuit meet at Lexington is the greatest time of the year.

First of all, there is racing over the historic mile track where champions have raced for more than a century. Virtually all the great ones have stepped at Lexington — Greyhound, Billy Direct, Good Time, Scott Frost, Adios Butler, Speedy Scot, Bret Hanover, Nevele Pride, Albatross, Niatross, Mack Lobell, Artsplace, Nihilator, Moni Maker and many more. If the track could talk, oh what stories it could tell.

An important partner to the racing is the yearling sale and its inherent promise of future greatness. We know darn well that some future stars will come from this year’s sale, but it’s the buyers’ job to pick them out. And that’s not so easy.

You could be leaning at the rail at the sale arena shooting the breeze with a buddy when the next Niatross or Moni Maker walks into the ring. Each yearling is a potential superstar.

The racing and sale is set amid an ambience that all horse lovers can appreciate. Lexington is, after all, the epicenter of the American horse racing scene with so much tradition throughout central Kentucky. It’s truly a horse racing town.

A few days before the Jug, I was in Holland to speak at a “Trends In Trotting” seminar for European horsemen. Several people asked me about coming to America for racing and asked about the Hambletonian Week. Yes, it’s great, I told them, and they find it easy to fly to New York, but Hambo Week simply cannot compare to the overall experience they’ll find at Lexington. I’ve been to The Red Mile on many days when I thought I was in a minority as an American-born racing fan.

In turn, the Europeans tell me about the Prix d’Amerique in Paris and Elitlopp in Stockholm as being the “greatest shows” in European trotting. Having been to both races multiple times, I’d agree. They are wonderful events that Americans should try to experience, but I still wouldn’t trade Lexington for either one.

I’m always amazed when I find people who have been longtime harness racing owners or fans and haven’t yet experienced Lexington in the fall. Go, I tell them. Don’t hesitate. We don’t know what the future may hold for the hallowed old track. Go while you can savor the traditions and experience the grandeur of the greatest time on the American harness calendar.

I hope to see you there.