Governor’s Day racing program set for Thursday at Harrington Raceway
July 24, 2018,by Matt Sparacino, publicity director, Harrington Raceway
Harrington, DE — The richest program of the season at Harrington Raceway is set for Thursday (July 26) during the Delaware State Fair as the annual Governor’s Day program will be contested with an 11-race program (7 p.m. post time).
More than $550,000 in total purses will be at stake on the program, with the majority being dispersed in the four $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund final events for 3-year-olds in races one, five, seven and 10.
Popular annual events for older horses that are also a big part of the day include the $40,000 Governor’s Cup, $30,000 Legislator’s Cup, $30,000 Charles Murphy Jr. Memorial Trot and $20,000 President’s Cup.
The first DSBF final event is for pacing fillies and will feature Deborah and Jamie Bozman’s Jamie’s Renegade (8-5, Russell Foster), who is unbeaten in four starts as a sophomore. The race honors the memory of trainer/driver Ben Stafford Jr., a long time horseman in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The filly trotting final, named in honor of former Harrington Raceway President and horseman Jack Walls, will feature a showdown between two previous DSBF final winners, Shirley Shand and Serendipity Stable’s Star Sapphire (7-5, Foster) and Howard Taylor, Tom Lazzaro, Mike Casalino Jr. and Dylan Davis’ Déjà vu Blue (9-5, Corey Callahan). The race is also the third leg of the early Pick-4 wager (races three-six).
Up next in DSBF final action will be the final for male trotters, which honors the memory of driver/trainer Hal Belote, who was tragically killed in a racing accident more than a decade ago. Super Fly (7-5, Art Stafford Jr.) owned by Leigh Raymer, Stephen Moss and Stacy Johnson, has been the scourge of the division and will look to complete a sweep of 3-year-old DSBF final events.
The last of the DSBF finals is for male pacers and will feature George Leager’s Slick Tony (8-5, Foster) who has dominated his DSBF rivals to date and will attempt to capture his fourth final. Carded as the 10th race, it is the third leg of the late Pick-4 (races eight-11).
In the second race (second half of the daily double), Art Stafford and Art Stafford Jr.’s Blazing Bobby Sox (7-5, Stafford Jr.) figures to be the favorite in the Governor’s Cup. The 7-year-old The Panderosa gelding was on a torrid run in the spring season with a four-race win streak.
Pick-4 wagering will be available in races three and eight.
- Family project Jamie’s Renegade is a winner (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)
Debbie and Jamie Bozman were hoping for a fun mother-daughter experience when they purchased a three-month-old female pacer in the summer of 2015. Although Jamie was raised around harness racing horses, trained by her father Walt Bozman Jr., she never owned one until that day. The filly, a daughter of Pacific Renegade out of the mare Honey, was named Jamie’s Renegade. She has proved to be a winner for Debbie and Jamie, but, more importantly, has proved to be resilient.