by Jay Wolf, publicity director, the Little Brown Jug
Delaware, OH — Pure Country, the No. 8 ranked Standardbred in North America, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the first heat of the $239,400 Jugette 3-year-old filly pace on Wednesday (Sept. 21) at the Delaware County Fair.
The daughter of Somebeachsomewhere was undefeated at two and has won half of her 14 starts this season. She has banked more than $1.5 million in career earnings. The Jimmy Takter trainee will leave from the second tier in post nine in the first heat and will be piloted by Brett Miller for Diamond Creek Racing.
Earlier this summer Pure Country raced against the boys in the $320,000 Cane Pace and the $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial, finishing a competitive fourth and second, respectively.
Darlinonthebeach (David Miller) is the second choice at 7-2 from post seven. Nancy Johansson, Takter’s daughter, trains the daughter of Somebeachsomewhere for the White Birch Farm. Darlinonthebeach has eight victories and has earned $519,644 on the season. She is the fastest filly in the field with her 1:48.4 mark at Pocono.
Third choice Call Me Queen Be (Scott Zeron) upset Pure Country in her last start, the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final on Sept. 10 at The Meadows. Call Me Queen Be is trained by Ross Croghan for the Let It Ride Stables and Dana Parham.
All the first heat finishers will advance to the second heat. The winner of the second heat will be declared the Jugette champion. The first heat will be raced for $95,760 and the second heat will carry a purse of $143,640.
The complete Jugette field and announced drivers:
PP-Horse-(Driver/Trainer)-Morning Line Odds
1. Yankee Moonshine (Yannick Gingras/Ron Burke)-8/1
2. Marty Party Two (Ronnie Wrenn Jr./Ron Steck)-15/1
3. L A Delight (John Campbell/Robert McIntosh)-6/1
4. Hug A Dragoness (Yannick Gingras/Ron Burke)-10/1
5. Call Me Queen B (Scott Zeron/Ross Croghan)-9/2
6. I Said Diamonds (Tim Tetrick/Matias Ruiz)-12/1
7. Darlinonthebeach (David Miller/Nancy Johansson)-7/2
8. Blue Moon Stride (Andrew McCarthy-Mark Harder)-12/1
9. Pure Country (Brett Miller/Jimmy Takter)-5/2
- Downbytheseaside smashes world record; wins Standardbred (Sunday, September 18, 2016)
Downbytheseaside (Chris Page) cruised to an easy victory in the second $34,500 division of the Standardbred for 2-year-old pacing colts in 1:50, breaking the world record by 1-4/5 seconds, highlighting the opening day action on Sunday (Sept. 18) at the Delaware County Fair.
- L A Delight looks to place her connections in the record books with Jugette win (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)
While Dan Patch Award winner Pure Country and her extremely accomplished rival Darlinonthebeach are dominating the headlines for the 46th edition of the Jugette, Canadian L A Delight is not only a force to be reckoned with, but if she secures the victory, she will not only redeem her dam’s loss in this very event, but will secure her pilot and her breeder/owner/trainer a place in Jugette history.
- Jugette Day post time moved to 12 Noon (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)
Wednesday’s (Sept. 21) post time at the Delaware County Fair has been moved back to 12 p.m.