Harness Racing This Week: Peter Haughton Memorial and Jim Doherty Memorial, Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; Milton Stakes final, Champlain Stakes, and Canadian Trotting Classic, Elegantimage, Metro Pace and She’s A Great Lady eliminations, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont.
Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action will commence on Friday (Sept. 13) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park with the $390,000 Peter Haughton Memorial for 2-year-old trotting males and the $305,000 Jim Doherty Memorial for 2-year-old trotting fillies.
Woodbine Mohawk Park will also feature Grand Circuit action on Friday with two divisions in the C$170,245 Champlain Stakes for 2-year-old filly trotters and a single division in the C$164,785 Champlain Stakes for 2-year-old male trotters. The busy Saturday (Sept. 14) program has the C$205,000 Milton Stakes for older pacing mares headlining the card. The Saturday card also features two C$40,000 Canadian Trotting Classic eliminations for 3-year-old open trotters, two C$35,000 Elegantimage eliminations for 3-year-old trotting fillies, two C$40,000 Metro Pace eliminations for 2-year-old open pacers and two C$35,000 She’s A Great Lady eliminations for 2-year-old pacing fillies.
Complete entries for the Hoosier Park races are available click here. Entries for the Woodbine Mohawk Park races are available click here.
Last Time: Jiggy Jog S (Walner), a familiar face to the North American racing scene but representing Sweden, where she was bred, improved from second in last year’s MGM Yonkers International Trot to first in this year’s $1 million edition on Saturday (Sept. 7) afternoon, prevailing for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Ake Svanstedt in 2:25 for the mile and a quarter distance.
Canadian representative Logan Park (Doug McNair) got away well from post five, but Dunn wanted the front with Jiggy Jog S and moved her out of second to take over the lead beyond the :29.3 opening quarter. Jiggy Jog S was well-rated and didn’t face any outside pressure through a sensible tempo of :58.2 and 1:27.2 while Hail Mary S (Orjan Kihlstrom), another Swedish representative, went first-up from fifth on the way to three-quarters, giving cover to the United States’ Periculum (Scott Zeron).
Hail Mary S couldn’t really make any progress on the rim towards the 1:55.4 mile marker, and that allowed Jiggy Jog S to get separation on the others as Periculum went three-wide early on the last turn.
There was no catching Jiggy Jog S, though, as she kept clear and allowed Dunn to raise his whip in celebration through the stretch. Periculum, coming off a victory in the Maple Leaf Trot a week ago, was a good second, 3-1/2 lengths behind Jiggy Jog S, and France’s Ideal San Leandro (Bjorn Goop) got third. Logan Park held fourth from United States representative It’s Academic (David Miller).
“She’s an amazing mare. It’s always a pleasure to sit behind her. For her to win a race like that just adds to her great career,” Dunn said following the race. “She’s been in such great form. I talked to Ake and Sarah before the race, and they were confident that she could go on the front today against these ones, but it was always going to be up to seeing what happened early. There was a bit of speed from outside and a little bit from inside, but she left so well herself. Once the option was there to re-move and go to the front, we took that chance. We got pretty good fractions after that. I was sort of waiting for a bit more pressure the middle of the race, but she was strong.
“She was a good and clear second last year, but she was only a 4-year-old mare then. It’s always a big step up when they finish their 3-year-old year and in their 4-year-old year they’ve got to race the open horses. She’s just got so much stronger and bigger and mentally tougher this year. You’ll see she’s been raced pretty lightly so far. Ake and Sarah have been taking their time and not racing her too much to make sure she’s there at the end of the year for the Breeders Crown. It’s a fun ride to be on. It’s always fun to sit behind her, and we’ll be looking forward to that for the rest of the year.”
A 5-year-old bred by Vestmarka AB, Jiggy Jog S is co-owned by Svanstedt in partnership with Steve Stewart, John Lengacher and Hickory Hollow Stables. She has a summary of 23-10-2 from 40 starts, has put away $2,975,467 and paid $3.70 to win as the favorite.
Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website click here. For a list of 2024 race winners on the Grand Circuit, click here.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2024, 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 Farms is the sponsor for the 2024 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders (through the races on 9-7-24):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 765; 2. Yannick Gingras – 565.5; 3. Scott Zeron – 410; 4t. David Miller – 409; 4t. James MacDonald – 409.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 618; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 449; 3. Nancy Takter – 323; 4. Anthony Beaton – 279; 5. Marcus Melander – 219.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 142.7; 2. Determination – 125; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 118.9; 4. Caviart Farms – 89.2; 5. Hudson Standardbred Stable – 82.5.
Looking ahead: Grand Circuit racing will be taking place next week at the Delaware County (Ohio) Fair, Hoosier Park, Tioga Downs and Woodbine Mohawk Park. Delaware will host nine Grand Circuit races, led by the Little Brown Jug for 3-year-old pacers. Hoosier Park features seven Grand Circuit races, including the Caesars Trotting Classic for open trotters. Mohawk Park’s week will include the Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trotters, Canadian Trotting Classic and Elegantimage finals for 3-year-old trotters and the Metro Pace and She’s A Great Lady finals for freshman pacers. Tioga will host Reynolds Memorial races for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.
by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit