by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, The Grand Circuit

This Week: TVG Free For All Trot, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J. and Ben Franklin Pace, Earl Beal Jr. Memorial, Max C. Hempt Memorial and James M. Lynch Memorial eliminations, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit spotlight will shine on Meadowlands Racetrack on Friday (June 26) with a $50,000 leg of the TVG Free For All Championship Series for older trotters. A field of six will go to the post in race 6.

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono will host four sets of stakes eliminations on Saturday (June 27). There will be three eliminations in the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial for 3-year-old colt trotters, the Max C. Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old colt pacers and the James M. Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old filly pacers. The Ben Franklin for older pacers will be raced in a pair of eliminations.
Complete entries for the races can be found by clicking on this link.

Last time: Last weekend’s Grand Circuit action was highlighted by the $810,000 Pepsi North America Cup for 3-year-old male pacers at Mohawk Racetrack.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Wakizashi Hanover came charging on the outside to win the North America Cup final.

Wakizashi Hanover, driven by Tim Tetrick, sat a perfect two-hole trip behind the pacesetting heavy favorite and previously unbeaten Wiggle It Jiggleit, before charging by the leader in deep stretch to capture the North America Cup, this past Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack, in 1:48.

Wakizashi Hanover, purchased for only $23,000 at the Standardbred Horse Sale in 2013, is owned by a group of Nova Scotians, based in Truro, and trained by Joann Looney-King. The Cup was his fifth and biggest win in six starts this year, after taking two of six last year.

As expected, Wiggle It Jiggleit, driven by 24-year-old Montrell Teague for his father, owner George Teague, went immediately to the front, putting down fractions of :25.1 (equaling the fastest Cup first quarter), :53.3 for the half and 1:21 for three-quarters.

But right on his tail throughout was Wakizashi Hanover, who was then angled out in mid-stretch and wore down the leader for the mild surprise by three-quarters of a length. Betting Exchange came on for third, three lengths behind the winner, while In The Arsenal, another elim winner from last week, was fourth.

Bee A Magician, the 2013 Horse of the Year, made her rivals disappear down the stretch, scoring an effortless 4-3/4 length victory over longshot Charmed Life in the $220,320 Armbro Flight final for filly and mare trotters, part of a star-studded stakes undercard on Pepsi North America Cup night.

Bee A Magician and driver Brian Sears, sent postward the overwhelming 1-5 choice, popped out from fourth and took over from Classic Martine after the half was reached in :56.4.

From there, after opening six lengths while getting to the three-quarters in 1:24.2, it was just a question of how far the 5-year-old mare would win by, as she clipped a fifth of a second off the stakes record set by Buck I St Pat in 2010, completing the mile in 1:51.4. Classic Martine held on for third with Shake It Cerry fourth.

Bee A Magician was winning her 37th race in 54 starts and has now earned almost $3.2 million for trainer Nifty Norman and owners Melvin Hartman, Herb Liverman and David McDuffee.

Complete recaps of the weekend races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2015, 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 2015 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders following the past weekend:

Drivers: 1t. Yannick Gingras – 208; 1t. Brian Sears – 208; 3. Tim Tetrick – 195; 4. Daniel Dube – 157; 5. David Miller – 145.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 323; 2. Jeff Bamond Jr. – 188; 3t. Rene Allard – 145; 3t. Jimmy Takter – 145; 5. Nifty Norman – 90.

Owners: 1. Bamond Racing – 165.5; 2. Burke Racing – 85.75; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 77.55; 4. Allard Racing – 46.6; 5. Jeff Snyder – 42.5.

Looking ahead: Next weekend Grand Circuit action will be taking place at six different tracks. Pocono will have the finals for the Ben Franklin (older pacers), Earl Beal Memorial (3-year-old trotters), Max Hempt Memorial (3-year-old pacers) and James Lynch (3-year-old filly pacers); Northfield Park will host the Cleveland Trot Classic for older trotters; Meadowlands Racetrack will card the final of the Graduate for 4-year-old pacers; Mohawk will host a leg of the Miss Versatility for older trotting mares; Balmoral Park will offer Hanover stakes for 3-year-old colt and filly trotters; and Historic Track will feature Landmark Stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.