Hightstown, NJ – So far this season, there have been three Grade 1 stakes and three Grade 2 events held for 3-year-old male pacers. And those six races have produced six different winners.
On Saturday (Aug. 22), five of those winners will meet at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania for the $300,000 Grade 2 Max C. Hempt Memorial. Not surprisingly, those five horses – Brandon Blvd, Al Papi, Odds On Mr Mamba, Melillo, and Sweet Lovin Lou – are among the six richest sophomore boys this year.
Brandon Blvd leads the entire sport in earnings, with $745,695. In addition to winning the Meadowlands Pace (G1) in July, he has captured the only two Grade 3 events contested so far this year, the Paul Revere Pace and Somebeachsomewhere Stakes. He finished second to Odds On Mr Mamba in the North America Cup (G1) in June and most recently on Aug. 8 was third in the Cane Pace (G2), snapping a three-race winning streak.
The son of Downbytheseaside-Alexis Faith has hit the board in all eight of his races this season, winning five. He will leave from post 2 in Saturday’s eight-horse Hempt Memorial, with Dexter Dunn in the sulky for trainer Andrew Harris. The Beal is one of six graded events on Pocono’s Sun Stakes Saturday card.
Al Papi, who was second in the Meadowlands Pace in a four-horse blanket finish, is the 3-1 second choice on the Hempt morning line. The Ron Burke-trained son of Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy has won consecutive starts, taking his elimination of the Delvin Miller Adios in a near-world-record 1:47.2 before winning the Grade 1 final by a head over stablemate Melillo in 1:48.1 on July 25.
In addition to his runner-up finish in the Meadowlands Pace, where he lost by a head, Al Papi was second in the MGM Grand Messenger Stakes (G2) to Fragment, the lone Grade 1 or 2 winner not in the Hempt (he was not eligible). Al Papi will start the Hempt from post 3 with driver Yannick Gingras.
Cane Pace winner Sweet Lovin Lou, with Scott Zeron driving for trainer Daniel Lagace, will leave from post 6 and is 4-1 on the morning line. Odds On Mr Mamba, with James MacDonald driving for trainer Melanie Wrenn, will go from post 4 and is 5-1 while Melillo and driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. will start from post 1 and is 12-1. Melillo won the Carl Milstein Memorial (G2) on Aug. 15 and was beaten a head by Brandon Blvd in a fourth-place Meadowlands Pace finish.
Joining the five graded stakes winners in the Hempt are Gentleman’s Club, Beau Jangles, and Another C Note.
Gentleman’s Club, with Andrew McCarthy in the sulky for Aaron Lambert, will start from post 7 and is 6-1 on the morning line. He was second in the Cane Pace and third in the Meadowlands Pace. Beau Jangles, the 2025 Horse of the Year, finished third in the North America Cup and will leave from post 5 on Saturday with Todd McCarthy driving for Dr. Ian Moore. He is 10-1. Another C Note, the third Burke entrant in the race, drew post 8 and will have Tyler Buter in the sulky. He is 15-1.
Racing begins at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) for Sun Stakes Saturday at Pocono Downs. The Hempt Memorial is race 12 on the 14-race card that also features the $300,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial (G2) for 3-year-old male trotters, $250,000 Delmonica Hanover (G1) for 3-year-old female trotters, and $250,000 James M. Lynch Memorial (G1) for 3-year-old female pacers.
Free program pages are available at the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association website.
For additional Sun Stakes Saturday coverage from DRF, including free Harness Eye past performances, free full-card analysis, and live video, click here.