Delaware, OH – Redland Rocket Man and driver Jody Jamieson soared to victory in the 81st edition of the Little Brown Jug, for 3-year-old pacers, on Thursday (Sept. 24), capturing the event’s $550,000 Grade 1 final by 4-1/4 lengths in 1:49.4 at the Delaware County Fair. Melillo finished second and Al Papi was third.
Redland Rocket Man, a $45,000 supplemental entry for co-owner/trainer John Pentland, won the second of the Little Brown Jug’s two $50,000 eliminations by 4-3/4 lengths in 1:50.2 with a last-to-first move on the backstretch earlier in the day, then controlled the tempo in the final after fending off Al Papi – the other elim winner – and Melillo on the opening turn.
amieson guided Redland Rocket Man through fractions of :26.2 to the quarter and :55.3 to the half before facing first-over pressure from Al Papi and driver Yannick Gingras. Al Papi got within a nose of Redland Rocket Man at three-quarters, in 1:22.3, but Redland Rocket Man sprinted home in a race-best :27.1 to capture the third jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown, with Jamieson raising his right arm in celebration heading to the finish.
“I thought I had my horse ready to leave, and I didn’t,” Jamieson said about the beginning of the final, where Redland Rocket Man had post 1 and Al Papi post 2. “(Al Papi) nearly got around me (at the start). If he gets around me, I don’t know how this race goes. I feel like I had the best horse going into the race, but it was until the first turn that I knew I was going to secure the lead.”
The win in the Little Brown Jug final was Redland Rocket Man’s third in a row, a streak that began with a world-record-equaling 1:46.4 performance in the Simcoe Stakes (G3) on Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“It’s amazing,” said Jamieson, who won the Little Brown Jug for the second time in his career. “John took a big leap of faith here. Obviously, we had the best horse, but it’s still a lot of money to be putting into a horse race. Things have got to go perfect, and you’ve got to have good drives, and the horse has got to be healthy. He asked me to drive, and I couldn’t have been more happy to do it. I couldn’t be more happy to be here today. Look at the people in the winner’s circle. This is what dreams are made of.”
Jamieson won his first Little Brown Jug in 2007, with Tell All.
“I don’t know how many guys have won twice, and I don’t know if it’s ever been that far apart – almost 20 years,” Jamieson said. “I guess it’s just a microcosm of what my career has been. I was really hot 19 years ago, and not so much since, but the last couple of years have been pretty amazing, to get a chance to come back here today to Delaware, Ohio, to the greatest race in harness racing.
“To go two heats, this horse … everybody had this horse ready. It’s an amazing experience just to be here, and then to get to the winner’s circle … and to do it in front of this crowd is just amazing. It’s just an amazing day.”
Redland Rocket Man, a son of Bulldog Hanover-Granny Hanover, was purchased for $30,000 at the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sale. He has won seven of 26 career races, hit the board an additional six times, and earned $677,020 for Pentland and fellow owners Murray Cox and Gary Volpe – all from Ontario.
“I was definitely looking for some Bulldog Hanovers,” Pentland said about getting Redland Rocket Man as a yearling. “I really liked this colt. He trained down really well; he kind of let you know he was a good horse. He had a big, long stride, he was easy to work with, he just wanted to win.”
Pentland agreed with Jamieson on the magnitude of winning the Little Brown Jug.
“I’m 100% with Jody,” Pentland said. “I think for pacing, it’s the biggest race. It goes for basically the same money as any of the other top, top races, far more prestige, even going two trips, it’s so rare now but it shows the character of a horse.”
Co-owner Volpe added, “It’s unreal. It still hasn’t sunk in. We’ve always wanted to win a Little Brown Jug, and we did it.”
Al Papi, Redland Rocket Man win Little Brown Jug heats
Al Papi and Redland Rocket Man won their respective $50,000 eliminations of the Grade 1 Little Brown Jug to lead the group of eight finalists for the $550,000 nightcap.
In the first elimination, Al Papi and Gingras took the lead coming out of the first turn and set the tempo from there to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:51.1. Frantic Hanover, Treacherous Lou, and Thai Hanover finished second through fourth, respectively, to also reach the final.
Al Papi, a Ron Burke-trained homebred son of Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy, set fractions of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:24 on his way to his fourth win of the season.
“I wanted the lead,” Gingras said. “That was plan A through Z. They were going to have to pace around me, and they were going to have to go real fast to get the front. I wanted the front, and I figured the horse would race good that way.
“He had plenty (left). I was pulling him up the last sixteenth to save something for the next heat. He’s ready to rock.”
In the second elimination, Redland Rocket Man and Jamieson swept three-wide from fifth heading to the final turn and pulled away for a 4-3/4-length win in 1:50.2. The next three finishers were Watch Em Win, Melillo, and Fragment.
Fragment took the lead from post 1 starter Hunting Glory approaching the :27 opening quarter but faced immediate pressure from first-over Melillo, who was a parked-out leader at the :54.1 half. Melillo was unable to clear and Fragment regained control heading down the backstretch the final time, at which point Jamieson put Redland Rocket Man in gear.
Fragment, Melillo and Redland Rocket Man were three across the track entering the last turn, but it was all Redland Rocket Man from there.
“There was lots of speed on the inside, and I thought there might be,” Jamieson said. “I thought Melillo would clear maybe at some point, but I was happy that he didn’t get to clear for a while. My horse was gapping a little bit going to the half, but he’s such a good horse he’s going to give me everything he’s got. I just needed the backstretch to get around them and, geez, he was pacing so fast up the backside that he got a little rough on me. I slowed him down and he paced the last turn into the stretch like the true champ that he is.
“I wasn’t in an ideal spot, last in a field of five, but … I just stayed out wide. I was planning on catching Melillo’s cover and then seeing what happened, but I went three-wide a little bit earlier than I would have. This horse just saw the open air and took off.”