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
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As Kris Brechler watched his family’s homebred trotter Mission Accepted grow up, he saw nothing that stood out about the horse. The colt was, in a word, average.
But once Mission Accepted began his racing career, what Brechler couldn’t see began to become apparent. The horse was filled with a desire to succeed. And now at the age of six, the stallion is nearing $1 million in career earnings as he prepares for the $135,000 Charlie Hill Memorial Trot on Thursday (May 6) at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
“When he was young, he didn’t make an impression one way or another,” Brechler said. “He was just average looking. But I wish you could see inside of them and see what kind of heart they have, because that’s a lot of it. He gives his all, all the time. He gives 100 percent every time he’s on the track. You always feel you have a chance with him.
The seventh annual Charlie Hill Memorial Trot gathers seven top trotting horses at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Thursday (May 6). The Ron Burke trained Mission Accepted is the 9-5 morning line favourite, however don’t discount Whata Swan, who was supplemented to the event.
The connections of 18 horses paid the $500 nomination fee to be made eligible to the $135,000 race for four-year-old and older trotters, but per the conditions, a horse not nominated by March 15 could be supplemented at the time of entry for $10,000. And owner John Barnard of Miami, Fla. took the plunge.
“He’s had six starts this year and he’s been racing in the open at Hoosier Park,” said Barnard about the Swan For All stallion who has taken a mark of 1:52.4 both last year and this year at Hoosier. “Based on his performance I decided to give him a shot there at Scioto. I figured it would be a good test for him and let him go against some tougher competition.“
A classy field of Open trotters with $4,603,627 in combined earnings aligned for the $25,000 Open Trot at Miami Valley on Tuesday (April 27), but they were no match for Mission Accepted.
The six-year-old son of Manofmanymissions won his third-straight top trot, despite being assigned post 9 and being parked three-wide around the entire first turn.
Icanflylikeanangel, the eventual runner-up, left the gate quickly and stopped the first quarter teletimer in :27. Mission Accepted and driver Chris Page were caught widest of all as a number of hopefuls in the 10-horse field also sped off the gate vying for good early position. Finally reaching the front just before crossing under the wire the first time, Mission Accepted stopped the midway timer in :56.3 and clipped three-quarters in 1:24.2. A :29 final panel enabled the winner to hold off pocket sitting Icanflylikeanangel and show finisher Lane Of Stone, who rallied from the rear of the field.
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