Daniel Plouffe is still pinching himself. The grocery-store owner from Quebec's Eastern Townships now has been part of two of the most dramatic Little Brown Jug victories of the last 20 years.

"Winning a Jug once in your life is something. Twice is unimaginable. It's such a great atmosphere, with so many fans cheering on the competitors. It's only really sinking in today. The fans got a great show and I got another priceless memory," said Plouffe, 58, co-owner of 2018 champion Courtly Choice and sole owner of Blissfull Hall, who mounted a three-wide charge from the back to win the third and deciding heat in 1999.

Plouffe was trackside with family for the dramatic Jug victory Thursday by Courtly Choice, who overcame a break at the start in his elimination and then a first-over trip for much of the $436,650 final before gutting out a neck victory in a five-horse photo at Delaware County Fairgrounds.

After Courtly Choice's break in the first heat, Plouffe said he was just hoping for a top-four finish and a spot in the final. But driver David Miller gathered up the horse for a spirited charge on the outside and almost won the elimination, eventually getting promoted to second from third with the disqualification of heat winner Stay Hungry.

In the final, Miller tucked Courtly Choice into third spot in the early going, then sent him first-over after pacesetter Lather Up. He appeared to have stalled entering the final turn, and Plouffe said he thought the horse was done, "but on the middle of the turn, he'd picked it up and was still in there fighting, and I knew we were still alive."

Plouffe praised trainer Blake MacIntosh for his preparation and Miller for his expert handling of a horse "who's not easy to drive. He's big and a bit lazy. You have to wake him up sometimes. But once he's rolling, he's a machine. He never quits. Blissfull Hall had a great brush and didn't need much motivation, but he was more compact. I don't think he could have won the final the same way Courtly Choice did Thursday, first-over for half a mile, after all he went through in the first heat. It takes a big, tough horse to do that."

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)