The Grand Circuit's weekly overview highlights the upcoming races at Woodbine Mohawk Park including the featured Pepsi North America Cup, along with Grand Circuit events taking place this weekend at The Meadowlands and Eldorado Scioto Downs.
This Week: Pepsi North America Cup, Fan Hanover, Goodtimes, William Wellwood Memorial, Peaceful Way, Champlain Stakes, and Simcoe Stakes, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont.; Jim Ewart Memorial, Eldorado Scioto Downs, Columbus, Ohio; and Kindergarten Series, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Schedule Of Events: Woodbine Mohawk Park will feature Grand Circuit action on Friday (Sept. 10) and Saturday (Sept. 11).
On Friday, Mohawk has the $160,260 Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old filly trotters.
The big Saturday card features the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup for three-year-old pacers, the $425,000 Fan Hanover for three-year-old filly pacers, the $240,000 Goodtimes for three-year-old male trotters, the $640,000 William Wellwood Memorial for two-year-old male trotters, the $392,000 Peaceful Way for two-year-old filly trotters, the $213,170 Champlain Stakes for two-year-old colt pacers and the $180,520 Champlain Stakes for two-year-old filly pacers.
Eldorado Scioto Downs features the $135,000 Jim Ewart Memorial for older pacers on Saturday night (Sept. 11).
Meadowlands Racetrack will host a leg of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-olds on Friday night (Sept. 10). Each of the seven races will go for a purse of $20,000. There will be two divisions each in the colt pace, colt trot and filly trot, with a single contest in the filly pace.
Complete entries for the Woodbine Mohawk Park races are available by clicking here. Entries for the U.S. races are available by clicking here.
Last Time: Lindy The Great pulled off the mild 7-1 upset in another star-stacked edition of the $546,000 Maple Leaf Trot in 1:51.3 on Saturday night (Sept. 4) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The seven-year-old was sharp off the gate, as James MacDonald guided the son of Crazed over to the rail heading into the first turn. It was 2019 Hambletonian champ Forbidden Trade who took early control of the race, as Beads tracked in second. Trotting titans Atlanta and Manchego sat in fourth and seventh, respectively, after an opening quarter in :27 and a half timed in :55.2.
Beads broke stride just before the final turn for home and Manchego soon followed, opening up the door for Forbidden Trade, looking to draw away from his rivals. The duo of Atlanta and Lindy The Great each looked to take their shots at netting the top prize.
It was Lindy The Great who would prevail, besting a stubborn Forbidden Trade by 1-1/4 lengths. Perfetto, who drew in with the scratch of Play Trix On Me, finished third at 141-1, while Hypnotic AM, at 101-1, was fourth.
MacDonald, in the midst of a career year, was thrilled to see the Julie Miller trainee back in the winner’s circle after a pair of runner-up efforts and a trio of third-place performances in his past five starts ahead of the Maple Leaf Trot.
“I don’t even know what to say. It’s just been an incredible year," he said. "Tonight, I thought I had a good shot. I needed a perfect trip and I needed everything to go right, but he’s just such a good horse and he’s just missed so many times this year.”
On a picture-perfect night at Woodbine Mohawk, Lindy The Great was finally able to strike gold.
“I know what I was telling myself, ‘Just take your time. Don’t step on the wheel.’ He felt like he was just going to erupt when I moved him. I got a pretty clean trip. I was loaded with trot. No one was coming on the outside and I got to take my time. I knew Bob (driver McClure, in rein to Forbidden Trade) had a good lead, but I was so full. Halfway down the lane, I said, ‘Well, maybe he isn’t getting there,’ but he dug in and found some more and that’s what champions do.”
Multiple stakes winner Atlanta, who took last year’s edition, finished fifth, while Manchego, chasing the 40th win in her illustrious career, was seventh.
Lindy The Great, owned by Andy Miller Stable Inc., John Schmucker, John Mehlenbacher, and VIP Internet Stable Inc., notched his fourth win from 11 starts in 2021 and 19th career victory.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2021, 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 2021 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders (through the races on September 4, 2021):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 660; 2. Yannick Gingras – 560; 3. Tim Tetrick – 511; 4. David Miller – 457; 5. Andrew McCarthy – 418.5.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 698; 2. Nancy Takter – 413; 3. Tony Alagna – 341.5; 4. Marcus Melander – 330; 5. Ake Svanstedt – 309.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 138.5; 2. Weaver Bruscemi – 127.3; 3. Brad Grant – 118.2; 4. Courant Inc. – 117; 5. Black Horse Racing – 111.7.
Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Woodbine Mohawk Park and The Meadowlands. Woodbine Mohawk Park will contest several stakes, highlighted by the Canadian Trotting Classic for three-year-olds, the Elegantimage for three-year-old filly trotters, and the Armbro Flight for older trotting mares. Also on tap will be the Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old colt pacers, Metro and Shes A Great Lady eliminations for two-year-old pacers, and Milton eliminations for older pacing mares. The Meadowlands will host another leg of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-old pacers and trotters.
(Grand Circuit)