Manchego, a returning Dan Patch Award winner who won the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial in her 2021 debut, is the No. 1-ranked horse in this season’s first Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll. The six-year-old female trotter received 20 of 35 first-place votes.
Six-year-old male pacer This Is The Plan, the MGM Borgata Series champion and the sport’s leading money-winner, was second in the rankings. He was followed by four-year-old male trotter Its Academic, three-year-old male pacer Abuckabett Hanover, and six-year-old female pacer Machnhope in rounding out the top five.
Its Academic counts the Charlie Hill Memorial among his wins while Machnhope was the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series champion. Abuckabett Hanover handed Perfect Sting his first career loss in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes earlier this month.
Guardian Angel AS has been part of Anna Lorentzon’s life for the better part of six years now, so it is no surprise she developed a special connection with her family’s homebred trotter. But their bond goes beyond mere success on the racetrack, where the stallion has won multiple Grand Circuit stakes and earned more than $1.5 million.
“He was my father’s favourite horse of the last 10 or 15 years,” said Lorentzon, referring to John-Erik Magnusson, who passed away in 2018. “As long as he’s racing, it’s part of my dad. Every ACL (farm) horse is going to be part of my dad, but especially him because he was his pride the last few years before he passed away. He means a lot to the whole stable, that’s for sure.
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
Payments are due for races held at Eldorado Scioto Downs this summer. The Next Generation, Charlie Hill Memorial Trot and Ohio State Fair Stakes nominations are due March 15.
Ohio’s newest race, The Next Generation, debuted in 2020 for two-year-old Ohio-bred pacers. The 2021 edition will also have races for two-year-old Ohio-bred trotters. The nomination fee is $10,000 and buys the owner a spot; a horse does not need to be declared until the draw. All four divisions will be held July 2-3.
The Charlie Hill Memorial, four-year-old-and-up open trot, will kick off opening week at Scioto this season, on Thursday (May 6). The nomination fee for this $125,000 (est.) race is $500.