Harrington Raceway’s richest program of the season will be held on Thursday (July 29) during the annual Governor’s Day program at the Delaware State Fair.
There will be four $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) finals for three-year-olds and a trio of $15,000 consolations on the 12-race program, in addition to long time staples for older horses like the $50,000 Governor’s Cup and $35,000 Legislator’s Cup and Charles Murphy Memorial Trot.
On the wagering front, there will be a Pick 4 (Races 2-5) and Pick 5 (Races 8-12) on the program.
The first DSBF final event is the first race on the card, as Littlebagoftricks (7/5, Russell Foster) will look to continue her dominance of the pacing fillies as the presumptive heavy favorite for trainer and co-owner Josh Green. Co-owned by Rich Lombardo and Charles Cochran, the Roddys Bags Again filly is unbeaten in five starts this year and dominated her two elimination legs. She will start from post 4.
Meanwhile, her main competition appears to be Jo Ann Looney-King’s Stealing Bases (5/2, Tim Tetrick), who also won both of her elimination events and drew post 2 for trainer Jim King Jr. The Roddys Bags Again-sired filly made $101,942 in her two-year-old season.
The Governor’s Cup, a popular annual event bringing the top Delaware-owned older horses, features 2019 champ Sicily (7/2, Victor Kirby). The venerable nine-year-old owned by Legacy Racing of Delaware and Reginald Hazzard is closing on $800,000 in career earnings for trainer Wayne Givens. He ,along with Robbins Nest Farm’s Gallic Beach (20/1, Corey Callahan), are the only nine-year-olds in the field; they are the only horses older than seven in the group.
All entries in the field have wins over the track this season, except for Jason Lynch’s Gunslinger Hill (7/1, Jason Lynch), who was runner-up four times. Lynch is the owner-trainer of two horses in the field, the other being McBoogity (20/1, Tim Tetrick), who finished in the money in three-straight starts before the summer break. MST Racing’s Goldberg (5/2, Allan Davis) is the early favourite and already has multiple wins over the surface this year. Delaware Gov. John Carney is expected to once again be on hand to present the trophy to the winning connections.
The DSBF filly trotting final is slated 6th on the card and named in memory of Jack Walls, who served as President of Harrington Raceway and was a lifelong supporter of harness racing and popular member of the local community. Four elimination winners are in the field including Gary White’s Whitesville Beulah (5/2, David Hill III), Thestable Jazzy Judy’s Jazzy Judy (2/1, Anthony Macdonald), Pam Wagner and Scott Woogen’s K J Diamond (15-1, Victor Kirby), and Allan Schmucker and Logan Powell’s Annalee (20/1 Tetrick).
The male pacing final, which honours the memory of driver-trainer Ben Stafford Jr., is the start of the Pick 5 in Race 8. Stafford Jr. was a talented horsemen who campaigned many DSBF contenders over the years including Badlands Jenna and Badlands and Art.
A competitive group will go post ward in the male pacing division that includes double elimination winners KDK Standardbreds’ Archie and Emerson (7/2, Jason Thompson) and Clyde Francis and MST Racing’s Henrico (3/1, Victor Kirby). Henrico is one of two Clyde Francis-trainees in the field, the other being MST Racing and George Teague Jr.’s Subban (9/5, Allan Davis), who won the two-year-old final at Harrington last fall.
The male trotting final is the ninth race and is named in memory of driver-trainer Hal Belote, who was tragically killed in a racing accident in 2006. Belote was an underrated horsemen who competed on the Mid-Atlantic circuit for decades and campaigned top horses such as Smashing Jane GT. The overwhelming favourite figures to be Bobby Myers’ Big Al M (8/5, Eric Davis) for trainer Eric Davis. The Anders Bluestone gelding is undefeated in three starts this year and has dominated the DSBF ranks thus far in his career.
First-race post time for the special Harrington program is 7 p.m. (EDT).
(Harrington Raceway)