by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, the Grand Circuit
This Week: Hambletonian, Hambletonian Oaks, John Cashman Memorial, U.S. Pacing Championship, Lady Liberty, Fresh Yankee, Cane Pace, Shady Daisy, Peter Haughton Memorial, and Jim Doherty Memorial, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J.
Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action takes place this Saturday (Aug. 6) at Meadowlands Racetrack with one of the biggest Grand Circuit cards of the season. The afternoon program is led by the $1.14 million Hambletonian, the first leg of trotting’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. Other major stakes races to be contested that day are the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for 3-year-old filly trotters, the $273,600 John Cashman Memorial for older trotters, the $225,550 U.S. Pacing Championship for older pacers, the $235,950 Lady Liberty for older pacing mares, the 188,350 Fresh Yankee for older trotting mares, the $320,000 Cane Pace, the first leg of Pacing’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds, the $94,675 Shady Daisy for 3-year-old pacing fillies, the $294,450 Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old colt trotters, and the $306,500 Jim Dohery Memorial for 2-year-old filly trotters.
Complete entries for the races are available at this link.
Last time: Looped from the gate and forced into brutal fractions of :25.2 and :52.1 — in the slop, no less — Racing Hill showed his talent and heart when he drew away from the field late and captured Saturday’s (July 30) $400,000 final of the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at The Meadows in a career-best 1:48.4. The pocket-sitting Check Six could not improve his position in the lane and finished second, 2-1/4 lengths back, while Fernando Hanover was a ground-saving third.
Racing Hill entered the 50th edition of the Adios with the flashiest credentials, including his victory in the $500,000 Hempt Memorial final and second-place finishes in the finals of the North America Cup and the Meadowlands Pace. But if his rivals didn’t appear up to the task of beating Racing Hill, it seemed that weather and the trip might do him in.
Rain punctuated by storms — the skies cleared shortly before the Adios went off — created a surface that proved tiring to some early leaders throughout the card. And Racing Hill, the 2-5 favorite, couldn’t take the lead from Check Six until just before the three-eighths.
“The race was not going the way I wanted it to go,” said winning driver Brett Miller. “I was expecting a few more people to leave and kind of shooting for the three-hole. When that didn’t happen, I said to myself, we’re in trouble.”
Once he thwarted the first-over challenge of longshot Another Daily Copy, the son of Roll With Joe-Chasing Ideals opened up and had only the timer to beat. The win pushed his career bankroll to $970,028.
Tony Alagna, who trains Racing Hill for owner/breeder Tom Hill, said he expected a swift opening half-mile if only because his colt was facing five foes from the powerful Ron Burke stable.
“I didn’t think they would let us get to the half in :55,” Alagna said. “I knew they would make us earn it. I’m a big believer in watching drivers’ body language. I was watching Brett in the bike, and he was telling me that he felt he had something left.”
Complete recaps of all the weekend races are available at the Grand Circuit website.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2016, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farm is the sponsor for the 2016 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the current leaders:
Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 448.5; 2. Tim Tetrick – 387.5; 3. David Miller – 341; 4. Matt Kakaley – 259; 5. Jordan Stratton – 236.5.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 584; 2. Jimmy Takter – 354.5; 3. Jeff Bamond Jr. – 175; 4. Clyde Francis – 152.5; 5. Peter Tritton – 149.5.
Owners: 1. Harry von Knoblauch – 149.5; 2. Burke Racing Stable – 138.25; 3. Bamond Racing – 117; 4. Weaver Bruscemi – 114.3; 5. Tom Hill – 87.
Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Northfield Park led by the Carl Milstein Memorial for 3-year-old pacers; at Hoosier Park with the Dan Patch for free for all pacers; at The Meadows with the Moni Maker for sophomore filly trotters; at the Indiana State Fair with the Fox Stakes highlighting 10 stakes; and at Tioga Downs with Tompkins-Geers events for 2-year-old colt and filly pacers and trotters.
- Takter looks to make history in Hambletonian (Tuesday, August 02, 2016)
It is no secret that trainer Jimmy Takter has enjoyed great success in the Hambletonian Stakes. The 55-year-old Hall of Famer has won the race four times, including each of the past two years, and would become the first trainer in history to three-peat with a win on Saturday. A victory would also give Takter a record-tying fifth triumph, putting him in the company of Stanley Dancer, Billy Haughton and Ben White in that elite club.
- Southwind Frank, Bar Hopping favored in Hambo elims (Monday, August 01, 2016)
Southwind Frank will start from post 5 in the second of two Hambletonian eliminations while Bar Hopping will start from post 1 in the remaining elimination when 18 hopefuls meet Saturday (Aug. 6) at the Meadowlands for the 91st edition of harness racing’s premier event for 3-year-old trotters.
- Broadway Donna seeks to join her dam with Hambo Oaks crown (Tuesday, August 02, 2016)
She is the defending champion of her division and banked $625,642 in only 14 trips to the post, yet when the stage is set for the most heralded contest of her career, the spotlight still fails to shine on Broadway Donna in this Saturday’s (Aug. 6) edition of the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks final.
- Iron Mine Bucky’s connections are excited heading into the Hambletonian (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
When the mare My Foolish Dream gave birth to a colt on Bud Carter’s Delaware farm three years ago, farm assistant Greg Haverstick looked at the foal and told Carter, “There’s something special about him already.” There was no telling what the future held for the horse, or those around him, but it turned out Haverstick was correct. The colt, Iron Mine Bucky, is racing in Saturday’s (Aug. 6) $1.14 million Hambletonian Stakes for 3-year-old trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack. And he is bringing Carter, Haverstick, and others on the journey of a lifetime.
- Western New York ties in Hambletonian with Tight Lines (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
It’s a rarity to see a Western New York connection in the Hambletonian but there’s one set for the 2016 edition which is scheduled for this Saturday afternoon (Aug. 6) at The Meadowlands. Buffalo Trotting Association President Bill Richardson along with former Buffalo Raceway regular Jeff Gregory have teamed up along with Jesmeral Stable (Steven Finkelstein) to send the 3-year-old gelding trotter Tight Lines (Yankee Glide-Ilia) into this year’s Hambletonian.
- Don’t count out the ‘other guys’ in Hambletonian (Wednesday, August 03, 2016)
A word of advice concerning Saturday’s Hambletonian: don’t take the “other guys” for granted. Southwind Frank and Bar Hopping will be the clear-cut favorites when the 91st edition of the Hambletonian takes place at the Meadowlands on Saturday (Aug. 6). But there are four talented dark horses that can make things very interesting coming down the stretch. They are Sutton, Milligan’s School, Marion Marauder and Brooklyn Hill.
- Bongiorno is looking forward to Hambletonian experience (Thursday, August 04, 2016)
Joe Bongiorno is in position to become the youngest driver to ever win the Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, harness racing’s most prestigious event. That can lead to some pretty anxious moments in the days leading up to the race. But the 22-year-old from Colts Neck, N.J., has a great way of not thinking about it. He just doesn’t give himself the chance. With the 91st edition of the Hambletonian set to take place at the Meadowlands on Saturday (Aug. 6), Bongiorno will be driving 20-1 longshot Make Or Miss out of post three in the first elimination.
- 2016 Hambletonian broadcast live on CBS Sports Network (Friday, August 05, 2016)
CBS Sports Network will present a 90-minute telecast of the $1 million Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, live from The Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday (Aug. 6) from 4-5:30 p.m. (EDT). The Hambletonian is the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown.
- Hatfield on Hambletonian: ‘There’s nothing that compares to this’ (Friday, August 05, 2016)
Bud Hatfield fell in love with Bar Hopping the moment he saw the colt as a yearling at the 2014 Standardbred Horse Sale. His affection for the horse remains high, and why not? For the first time in four decades in harness racing, Hatfield is sending a horse to the Hambletonian. And the horse is Bar Hopping. Bar Hopping is the 9-5 favorite in the first of two nine-horse eliminations of the Hambletonian, presented by Mullinax Ford, Saturday at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.