by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, the Grand Circuit
This Week: Bluegrass Stakes, Red Mile, Lexington, Ky. and Dayton Pacing Derby and Dayton Trotting Derby, Hollywood Dayton Raceway, Dayton, Ohio.
Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action kicks off on Thursday (Sept. 29) at Red Mile with six divisions in the $334,500 Bluegrass for 2-year-old colt trotters. The Friday (Sept. 30) card at the Lexington oval will feature five divisions in the $298,000 Bluegrass for 2-year-old filly trotters. On Saturday (Oct. 1), The Red Mile will offer $200,000 (est.) Bluegrass events for 2-year-old colt and filly pacers. The first week of racing in Lexington will conclude on Sunday (Oct. 2) with $200,000 (est.) Bluegrass events for 3-year-old male and female trotters and pacers.
Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night will feature a pair of Grand Circuit stakes in the $150,000 Dayton Pacing Derby for older pacers and the $160,000 Dayton Trotting Derby for older trotters.
Complete entries for the races are available at this link.
Last time: The Grand Circuit spotlight was on the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair this past week, with the $577,000 Little Brown Jug leading five days of exciting stakes races.
Betting Line won the 71st Little Brown Jug, presented by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, with a world record performance in the event’s second heat Thursday (Sept. 22) at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
The Casie Coleman-trained Betting Line, who extended his win streak to 13 races with his Jug victory, stopped the timer in 1:49, equaling the fastest mile ever by a 3-year-old pacer on a half-mile track. Wiggle It Jiggleit, a gelding, established that record last year at Harrington Raceway. Betting Line’s effort, though, was the fastest half-mile triumph ever by a colt.
Betting Line, the 1-9 favorite in the second heat, took the lead from Western Fame just after the halfway point in the mile race for 3-year-old pacers and cruised to an eight length victory from there. Western Fame was second, followed by Dr J Hanover and Lyons Snyder.
It was driver David Miller’s fourth career Jug win and the third for Coleman.
Betting Line has won 13 of 14 races this year and earned $1.37 million. He is owned by Coleman’s West Wins Stable, Christine Calhoun, and Mac Nichol.
In other Grand Circuit action over the weekend, some of the sport’s top trotters were showcased in the $220,000 Centaur Trotting Classic at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Saturday (Sept. 24). Hannelore Hanover, with driver Yannick Gingras, returned to her home state of Indiana to turn in a dominant performance.
Just as Bee A Magician did the previous year, Hannelore Hanover easily handled a field of nine male counterparts to add another stakes victory to her resume. With a final time of 1:52.4, the world champion mare made her game winning move down the backside and coasted on to the wire to finish 2-1/4 lengths in front of the competition.
Trained by Hoosier Park’s leading trainer, Ron Burke, the 4-year-old daughter of Swan For All-High Sobriety notched her 15th win from 17 seasonal outings. Hannelore Hanover has now amassed $1,201,685 lifetime for her connections of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Frank Baldachino, and J&T Silva Stables.
Lady Shadow continued her outstanding season with a powerful 1:50 victory in the $236,360 Milton Stakes Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack. Yagonnakissmeornot was able to finish second after getting away fourth and staying inside until three-quarters. Waasmula charged home for third, while Bedroomconfessions closed well from the back for fourth.
A 5-year-old daughter of Shadow Play, Lady Shadow has now won nine of 16 starts and earned $618,481 this season for trainer Ron Adams and owners David Kryway, Carl Atley, Edwin Gold and BFJ Stable.
Complete recaps of all the 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 – 1,056.5; 2. David Miller – 820; 3. Tim Tetrick – 708.5; 4. Brett Miller – 407.5; 5. Scott Zeron – 336.5.
Trainers: 1. Jimmy Takter – 952.5; 2. Ron Burke – 913.5; 3. Tony Alagna – 412; 4. Ake Svanstedt – 306; 5. Linda Toscano – 249.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 211.17; 2. Marvin Katz – 179.6; 3. Tom Hill – 179; 4. Weaver Bruscemi – 175.52; 5.Harry von Knoblauch – 149.5.
Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Lexington’s historic Red Mile. Featured will be the Kentucky Futurity, the third leg of Trotting’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. Also on tap will be the companion Kentucky Filly Futurity for the sophomore fillies, the Tattersalls Pace and the Glen Garnsey Memorial for 3-year-old pacers, four International Stallion Stakes races for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits, and four Allerage contests for open pacers and trotters.
- Always B Miki, Wiggle It Jiggleit to renew rivalry at Dayton (Monday, September 26, 2016)
Always B Miki and Wiggle It Jiggleit, the two most dominant active pacers in the world, will match strides for the seventh time this season in the $150,000 Dayton Pacing Derby at Hollywood Dayton Raceway on Friday night (Sept. 30).
- Freshman trotters kick off Grand Circuit at The Red Mile (Monday, September 26, 2016)
The annual Grand Circuit meeting at The Red Mile commences Thursday (September 29) with six divisions of the $334,500 Bluegrass Stakes for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters.
- Freshman trotting fillies featured in Friday Bluegrass divisions (Tuesday, September 27, 2016)
Freshmen trotting fillies will race in the spotlight on Friday (Sept. 30) at Red Mile, with five divisions of the $298,000 Bluegrass Stakes scheduled for the nine-race program.
- Long Tom “feels like a good horse” (Wednesday, September 28, 2016)
Long Tom might be short on experience, but trainer Marcus Melander believes the 2-year-old male trotter can stand tall when it comes to racing on the Grand Circuit. The colt, who spent time in Sweden after being purchased for $60,000 at last year’s Standardbred Horse Sale, competes Thursday (Sept. 29) in the first of six Bluegrass Stakes divisions at Red Mile.
- Freaky Feet Pete looks to fulfill Rheinheimer’s final wishes at Dayton (Thursday, September 29, 2016)
When she most recently was engaged in conversation with Larry Rheinheimer regarding his beloved world champion Freaky Fete Pete, Jamie Macomber certainly never imagined and would have immediately banished the thought this would be the final occasion she would ever chat with the man she had grown to esteem and adore. Yet within 48 hours of his sudden and tragic passing on Saturday (Sept. 24), Macomber, although understandably engulfed in grief, may just very well have had a glimmer of a smile cross her face when Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway released the entrants for this Friday evening’s (Sept. 30) card.
- Wiggle It Jiggleit featured in Dayton Daily News story (Thursday, September 29, 2016)
Wiggle It Jiggleit, the top ranked horse in this week’s Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, is featured in a column by Tom Archdeacon in the Dayton Daily News ahead of his start in Friday’s Dayton Pacing Derby at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.
- Tambur loves raising his Standardbreds (Friday, September 30, 2016)
Bob Tambur enjoys watching his horses compete, but even more than that he delights in simply watching them grow up. “I just have a love for raising these horses; I get a big kick out of it,” said Tambur, a northeast Pennsylvania resident whose homebred Boogie Shuffle races out of the training stable of Mark Harder in Saturday’s (Oct. 1) first of five Bluegrass Stakes divisions for 2-year-old male pacers at Lexington’s Red Mile.