It’s his maiden voyage to the marquee events at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, but even if the two horses Doug McNair will steer for his father, Gregg, in the Jug and Jugette do not produce top class performances, he still plans on

reveling in each trip.

“I wanted to drive horses since I was 6 or 7 years old and now I’m only 21 and driving here for the Jug,” said the St. Thomas, Ontario, resident. “You never think you are going to end up here and especially at my age. It should be a lot of fun whether we finish first or last. Everything has happened so fast and I just hope it keeps on rolling.”

The father-and-son team traveled to the fairgrounds to contest Wednesday’s $353,400 Jugette with Dance Until Dawn and Thursday’s $604,100 Little Brown Jug with Aracache Hanover.

A fairly recent acquisition from the Standardbred Canada's Spring Fling Mixed Sale, Dance Until Dawn, a daughter of Artsplace-Disney Dawn, is owned by 1521510 Alberta Ltd. of Calgary and has earned nearly $74,000 lifetime, with a mark of 1:52.1s from 12 career starts. The filly has competed primarily in conditioned races this year, although she did pace in last year’s Eternal Camnation and Shes A Great Lady. She has been relegated to a limited number of starts because of minor health issues in both years of her career.

“She’s a pretty clean filly, but she had a few problems at two and then back again at three,” said trainer Gregg McNair, who is on pace to earn the most money he ever has in a single year. “When we bought her she needed about a month or so off because of a bone bruise in her right hind, but after that we got her going and she’s been pretty good.

“I know this (the Jugette) is getting her up in class, but we’ve been running her against some decent mares in her races,” the 49-year-old continued. “We haven’t raced her over a half, but she has gate speed and we train over a half-mile track. She gets around that just fine and the way I see it there are two nice fillies in there (Dancinwiththestarz and Western Silk.) She’s got a good hole (post three in the second elimination) and after those two fillies, I think it’s anyone’s race.”

The McNairs’ Jug entry is $547,000 Confederation Cup victor Aracache Hanover, who provided Doug McNair with the biggest win of his young career. The Pennsylvania-bred son of Dragon Again-Armbro Cachet, who was a $37,000 yearling purchase at the Standardbred Horse Sale by William Switala and James Martin of Clarence Center, N.Y., has collected more than $590,000 lifetime, with $550,744 banked this year, from 23 pari-mutuel miles.

The colt is the first foal from his dam and won seven consecutive races this summer before a second-place finish in the $200,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stake Final at The Meadows on September 4.

Aracache Hanover raced well as a freshman, but has put it all together for his sophomore campaign.

“I drove him a couple times last year and he had gate speed, but he didn’t like to pass horses and didn’t finish well,” said Doug McNair, who has won 367 races this year, good for 10th most in North America, and nearly equaling his career high of 384 set last season. “This year isn’t even comparable to last year. He wasn’t real mature and now he has the gate speed and he finishes.

“I was real excited until I saw we drew the eight hole. But I guess that’s only where you start from and he is really good on a half-mile track.”

There is another reason Gregg has a special fondness for the colt.

“We trained his mother and then when she was done racing she was sold to Hanover Shoe Farms,” he said. “He’s quite full of himself and when he jogs he likes to look at the girls. He has raced well right from the beginning and he is at his best on a half-mile track.”

Father and son are certainly hoping for the best outcomes for both their race entrants, but they are also realistic about what will transpire.

“Dance Until Dawn is in a good spot and I haven’t seen the lines on the couple fillies inside of us (Western Silk is next to her in post four), but we just hope she will get a good trip and get a spot in the final,” Gregg said.

“Unfortunately, Aracache Hanover drew where he did,” he continued. “He has some really good horses inside him like the one (Kyle Major,) the two (Rock N Roll Heaven,) and the seven (We Will See). You really can’t be too optimistic for him and his trip will really have to work out for him to even make the final and try to get a good post for it. I think they all will leave, so I don’t know what we are going to try to do with him. All you can do is see what happens.”

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.