The apex of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund season for three-year-olds will headline the upcoming week of racing at Harrington Raceway with four $100,000 finals.

The top Delaware-sired male pacers will battle Monday (July 6), female pacers on Tuesday (July 7), and trotters will compete Wednesday (July 8).

JoAnn Looney-King’s Apple Valley Art (3-2, Tim Tetrick) is the clear favourite in the colt and gelding pacing division after sweeping his eliminations in decisive fashion for trainer Jim King Jr. The Artzina-Shake Away gelding drew post four and will pursue his third career win in just four lifetime starts. He suffered an injury that shortened his two-year-old season, but has come back in fine fashion for one of the nation’s top stables. Henry Faragalli III, Nanticoke Racing, Arthur Feeney and Daniel Doane’s American Nitro (5-2, Victor Kirby) is among the rivals who will try to foil the favourite’s bid. Trained by Les Givens, the Badlands Nitro-Jet American gelding easily won his split last week and was the two-year-old DSBF champion last year.

Tuesday’s filly pacing final will feature Legacy Racing of Delaware’s Cinder Rock (7-5, Allan Davis), who has been the indisputable scourge of the division with more than $150,000 in career earnings for trainer Wayne Givens. Though she was upset by Brenda Teague’s She’s Got The Lynx (7-2, Montrell Teague) in her first leg elimination, Cinder Rock quickly rebounded with a 10-length romp in her second-leg split. The Rockabillie-Cinderella filly has won seven of nine lifetime starts.

Wednesday’s trotting finals appear to be much more unpredictable, as all four favourites were beaten in the second leg. The colt and gelding final, slated as the fourth race on the program, will see three different elimination winners among a highly competitive group. Jane Dunavant’s Riddle Me This (Ross Wolfenden), Breakaway Racing’s Touch Of White (Corey Callahan) and Ben Brooks’ Master Of Mine (Victor Kirby) all had their pictures taken in elimination events. Master Of Mine, a Master Lavec-Dilly Dally Delia gelding, was the only one to sweep his eliminations, both from the rail. Trained by John Wilkerson, Master Of Mine went winless in his two-year-old season but has stamped himself as a leading contender heading into Wednesday’s final. There is also a pair of commonly-owned rivals who had ample success as freshmen, Dunavant’s Air Time (Art Stafford Jr.) and Chauffeur (driver TBA), who were competitive in their respective eliminations. Dunavant has three horses in the final, all sired by Dusty Winner and trained by Carlo Poliseno.

The filly trotting final pits four different elimination winners to match up among the contentious field. Linda MacDonald’s Stella A (Ross Wolfenden), Eric Foster’s Emmys Mayflower (Russell Foster), Shirley Shand’s Blue Carats (Roger Plante Jr.) and Providence West Inc.’s Alert (Kim Vincent) each were victorious through the course of two elimination legs. Meanwhile, Ed Kimmel and Don Wiest’s Orabelle (Tony Morgan) was the two-year-old champ and would have an opportune time to achieve her first win of the season.

Post time nightly is 4:30 p.m. Spectators are not permitted in the grandstand at the present time, however Murphy’s Race and Sports Book, the on-site simulcast facility, is open on the second floor of the grandstand for simulcasting and dining. Sports wagering is currently unavailable.

(Harrington Raceway)