John Saunders knows the thrill of being the captain of a Yale football team that beat Harvard in The Game. On Thursday, the Ohio native will look to tackle The Jug.

Saunders, whose family’s involvement in harness racing dates to the 1940s and his Ohio Hall of Fame-inducted great uncle C.M. Saunders, owns Little Brown Jug hopeful Rose Run Zane with his wife, Leann. The three-year-old pacer already holds a meaningful place in Saunders' heart, and that will remain unchanged regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s $625,000 USD Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio.

Rose Run Zane was purchased by Saunders for $40,000 at the 2022 Ohio Selected Jug Sale. The sale came two weeks after the passing of Saunders' father, Kenny. Saunders and his dad had planned to attend the auction together.

“We were going to go buy a couple horses,” said Saunders, a native of Waterville, Ohio, who now lives in Colorado. “My wife and I ended up buying 'Zane' in that sale. So, it’s been a two-year thing where we’ve been watching him, and it’s just been really exciting.”

Rose Run Zane, a son of Racing Hill-Mrs American Pie, has won nine of 22 lifetime races and hit the board an additional five times. The gelding, trained by Dan Venier and driven throughout by Austin Hanners, has earned $339,852.

The horse already has enjoyed success on Jug Day at the Delaware County Fairgroundss half-mile oval, having won last year’s Ohio Breeders Championship for freshman male pacers in a world record-equalling 1:51.1. (His family, incidentally, includes two winners of the Jugette, held for three-year-old female pacers the day prior to The Jug at Delaware — Caviart Ally and Hall of Famer Eternal Camnation.)

This year, Rose Run Zane has hit the board in 11 of 16 races, winning six. His victories include the James K. Hackett Memorial final and two divisions of the Ohio Sire Stakes (OHSS). He heads to the Little Brown Jug off a second-place finish in an OHSS division at Eldorado Scioto Downs, where he was timed in 1:51.1 with a :26.4 last quarter.

On Thursday, he will compete in the second of two $50,000 USD Little Brown Jug eliminations. He will leave from post four in a seven-horse field and is 6-1 on the morning line. The top four finishers from each elimination will return later in the day for the $525,000 USD final.

“He had a really good race last time, so we figured we’d give it a shot and see how he did,” said Saunders. “Austin has been driving him great all year, and Dan and [his wife] Cheryl are two of the greatest people we’ve ever known. We’re as excited for them as we are for ourselves. This is all our first time, and to be doing it together, I have to say is one of the most special things outside of my kids and my wife. It’s pretty cool.”

The group cheering on Rose Run Zane will not be limited to the connections.

“We’ve always made the Little Brown Jug kind of a family reunion,” said Saunders, adding that more than 70 people joined him and his wife for Rose Run Zane’s race last year, and a similar crowd is expected again Thursday. “It’s going to be a good time. Hard to believe, but they’re almost as excited as we are too. They’re just really happy to be able to experience [the Little Brown Jug] in this way, in a very unique way.

“And my dad, I’m sure he’s been watching. Owning some horses together was something really important to him. That was kind of a setback for me, but 'Zane' and my lovely wife have helped me through it. I just wish he was here.”

As for Rose Run Zane, it is perhaps no surprise Saunders — who played linebacker at Yale and captained the squad that defeated Harvard 33-31 in the 1993 edition of The Game — cited the gelding’s grit as his best quality.

“He’s got a lot of speed, but it’s more his toughness and that he’s always right there,” said Saunders. “If you give him an opportunity to be in the right spot at the end of a race, he’s going to do everything he can to be there.”

The Saunders own four horses at the moment. When not watching them race, they are busy with a corporation they co-founded, Where Food Comes From Inc., an independent third-party verification company.

“That is my wife’s specialty,” said Saunders. “She grew up on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado. Her whole life has been spent talking about where food comes from. We do audits on farms and ranches and take it through to retail and any kind of big food companies that want to make specific claims about their food. Organic and stuff like that is what everyone knows, but we do a lot more, like export verifications.”

Little Brown Jug Day will begin at 11 a.m. (EDT). The eliminations for the 79th edition of The Jug are races 17 and 18 on the 21-race card. The Little Brown Jug final caps the program. Racing from the Delaware County Fairgrounds will air from 1-3 p.m. and 4:30-7 p.m. on FS2.

North America Cup winner Nijinsky is the 5-2 morning line favourite in the first Jug elimination. His Anthony Beaton-trained stablemate Legendary Hanover gets the 9-5 nod in the second elim.

So, what would it mean to Saunders if Rose Run Zane were to win The Jug?

“We haven’t even gone there,” Saunders said with a laugh. “If he does well, maybe gets into the final, that would be just unbelievable. He’s a special horse to us, and we’re just happy to be here.”

Click here for a free Little Brown Jug Day program.

(USTA)