by Paul Ramlow, Grand Circuit Publicity Director

This Week: American-National eliminations, Balmoral Park, Crete, Illinois

Schedule of events: The American-National eliminations will be contested on Saturday (Nov. 5). On tap will be the $15,000 eliminations for the 2-year-old colt pacers and the $10,000 eliminations for the 2-year-old filly pacers.

Last time: Jody Jamieson, Dave Palone and Ron Pierce each drove a pair of winners during the Breeders Crown card on Saturday (Oct. 29) at Woodbine.

Jamieson was in victory lane with Monkey On My Wheel in a stakes record 1:49.3 in the $500,000 Crown final for 3-year-old filly pacers and Frenchfrysnvinegar in the $300,000 final for the open mare trotters. Palone was victorious behind Sweet Lou in a world record clocking of 1:49 in the $650,000 2-year-old colt pace and Uncle Peter in the $600,000 2-year-old colt trot. Pierce was triumphant behind Check Me Out in the $600,000 2-year-old filly trot and Cedar Dove, who equaled the stakes record of 1:53.3 in the $500,000 3-year-old filly trot.

The other six Breeders Crown finals went to: Chapter Seven and Jeff Gregory ($610,000 3-year-old colt trot); San Pail and Randy Waples ($600,000 open trot); Economy Terror and Brian Sears ($600,000 2-year-old filly pace; Betterthancheddar and Mark MacDonald ($500,000 3-year-old colt pace); Bettor Sweet and John Campbell ($500,000 open pace); and Anndrovette and Luc Ouellette ($300,000 open mare pace).

Grand Circuit Driving Standings: Thanks to his pair of Breeders Crown triumphs, Dave Palone has moved into the lead in the tight Grand Circuit driving standings with 29 victories. Tim Tetrick is in second place with 28 winners. David Miller is in third place with 27 triumphs. Ron Pierce checks in fourth with 20 victories. Yannick Gingras is in fifth place with 17 triumphs. Brian Sears holds down sixth place with 13 wins. Jody Jamieson, Andy Miller and Ray Schnittker share seventh place, each with 10 scores. Brett Miller and Montrell Teague are tied for tenth place, each with seven wins.

Looking ahead: The Grand Circuit will remain at Balmoral Park next week with six lucrative events — the $225,000 (est.) 3-year-old colt pace, the $180,000 (est.) open pace for 4-year-olds and up, the $150,000 (est.) open trot for 4-year-olds and up, the $150,000 (est.) 3-year-old filly pace, the $125,000 (est.) 2-year-old colt pace final and the $125,000 (est.) 2-year-old filly pace final.

The remaining 2011 schedule for the Grand Circuit is as follows.

Track–Dates
Balmoral Park–November 5-November 12
Maywood Park–November 18