This Week: Arthur Cutler Memorial and Graduate Series leg, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.
Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit heads to The Meadowlands on Saturday (May 15), with the $141,250 Arthur Cutler Memorial for open trotters and two $50,000 divisions in the second leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-old open pacers.
Last Time: With $135,000 on the line, Ohio-bred Its Academic took control and never looked back in winning the Charlie Hill Memorial Trot at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Thursday (May 6). The four-year-old stallion by Uncle Peter led gate-to-wire for driver Yannick Gingras.
Getting his own way to a :28 opening quarter and :56 half, no serious bids were made to challenge the leader. Stablemate Mission Accepted (Chris Page) popped the pocket at the three-quarter pole but could not make up any ground. Posting a :27.3 last quarter, Its Academic won by two lengths in 1:52.3. Mission Accepted finished second and Majestic Player A (Brett Miller) was third. W
The publicity department for the Grand Circuit has sent its weekly recap and preview of racing on the Grand Circuit.
This Week: Dexter Cup final and Lady Suffolk, Freehold Raceway, Freehold, N.J., and Graduate Series first leg, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.
Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit at Freehold on Saturday (May 1) features the $115,583 Dexter Cup final for three-year-old open trotters and two $36,057 divisions in the Lady Suffolk for three-year-old filly trotters.
Also on Saturday, The Meadowlands has a pair of $50,000 first leg divisions in the Graduate Series for four-year-old open pacers.
Last Time: Rather than accept a bye and guarantee himself two Dexter Cup final starters, trainer Åke Svanstedt decided to let Incommunicado compete in Saturday’s (April 24) Dexter Cup elimination at Freehold Raceway. The gamble paid off, as Incommunicado cruised under the wire 2-3/4 lengths in front and established himself as one of the favourites for this week’s Dex
This Week: Dexter Cup elimination, Freehold Raceway, Freehold, N.J.
Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit at Freehold on Saturday (April 24) features a single $38,529 Dexter Cup elimination for three-year-old open trotters.
Ten horses entered the Dexter Cup on Wednesday. Two of them, Ambassador Hanover for trainer Åke Svanstedt, and Sunny Crockett, trained by Julie Miller, accepted byes and will advance to next week’s final. As a result, the top six finishers in the elimination will move on to the final.
Last Time: This Is The Plan was able to overcome starting from the outside post eight with a blitz off the gate and then never let anybody get close to him after that in winning Monday night’s (April 19) $514,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series final at Yonkers Raceway in 1:50.4. This Is The Plan, driven by Yannick Gingras and one of three in the final sent out by trainer Ron Burke, was dispatched at odds of 11-1.
This Week: Blue Chip Matchmaker and MGM Borgata Pacing series finals and consolations, Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, N.Y.
Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit at Yonkers on Monday (April 19) features the $514,000 final of the MGM Borgata Pacing series for open pacers and the $232,800 final of the Blue Chip Matchmaker series for open pacing mares. The card will also have the $100,000 MGM Borgata Pacing series consolation and the $60,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker consolation.
Last Time: Preliminary round action in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series concluded on Monday night (April 12) at Yonkers Raceway with a trio of $40,000 divisions that were won by Backstreet Shadow, Mach N Cheese, and Leonidas A.
On Tuesday afternoon (April 13), the draws were held for the $514,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series final and $232,800 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series final, both of which will take place on Monday, April 19 at Yonkers Raceway. In addition to the finals, there will also be consolation races in both events.
Leonidas A (above) finished with the most points in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series, but the draw for the final was not kind to him, as he will start from post seven in the eight-horse field. Austin Siegelman will be in the bike behind the Sheena Mcelhiney-trained and Jesmeral Stable-owned six-year-old Mach Three gelding.