Canadian-campaigned supplemental entry Redland Rocket Man and driver Jody Jamieson blasted from the back with a quarter-mile to go and drew off to win the second $70,423 elimination heat of the Little Brown Jug in 1:50.2 on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Ohio's Delaware County Fairgrounds.

Hunting Glory (Ridge Warren) got the first call from the inside post with Watch Em Win (Tim Tetrick) tucking behind and Fragment (Jason Bartlett) pressing on to clear past a :27 opening quarter. Once Fragment made front, 4-5 favourite Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) swept up from third alongside to wage a front-end war as they raced in front of the grandstand the first time and gained a slight advantage on the outside at the half in :54.1. 

Fragment regained the lead just ahead of Melillo down the backstretch while Jamieson had Redland Rocket Man ready to fire from the back of the five-pack and orbited three-wide, accelerating to the top past three-quarters in 1:22.4 as a resurgent Melillo overtook Fragment in second. Once Redland Rocket Man swooped the group, he kept on going to win by nearly five lengths with a :27.2 final frame. A shuffled Watch Em Win rallied for second over Melillo with Fragment finishing back in fourth.

"It was cool," said winning trainer John Pentland of Redland Rocket Man's big backstretch move. "The race set up well with a lot of front end speed and that guy getting parked, but I take nothing away from my colt. He's got a motor that he just never runs out of gas."

Owned by Pentland of Dorchester, Ont. along with partners Murray Cox of Rockwood, Ont. and Gary Volpe St. Thomas, Ont., Redland Rocket Man was supplemented for $45,000 USD to the Jug off a 1:46.4 sophomore world record for three-year-old geldings in the Grade 3 Simcoe Stakes on Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

"He's earned his way here," said Pentland. "He raced fabulous at Northfield [Park finishing second in the Carl Milstein Memorial]. He's on his game. Jody has done a great job with him since he started driving him."

Bred by Redland Farms of Bible Hill, N.S., the Bulldog Hanover-Granny Hanover gelding has won six of his 25 career starts with earnings totalling $559,097.

Redland Rocket Man paid $4.80 to win as the 7-5 second choice.

Al Papi was all business in the first $70,423 elimination heat of the 2026 Little Brown Jug for three-year-old pacers on Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio.

Driver Yannick Gingras floated 1-2 choice Al Papi away from post two and worked his way to the lead around stablemate Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) through the opening turn. After a :27.2 first quarter, Gingras geared down the tempo and stole a :29.2 second panel to hit the half in :56.4. Second choice Toast Of The Town (Jason Bartlett) started a first-over bid just before the halfway mark but didn't make it to the leader's bridle. Al Papi hit the third quarter in 1:24 and then closed in a geared-down :27.1 for the 1:51.1 score. Frantic Hanover finished second, 1-1/4 lengths back, followed by Treacherous Lou (Andy McCarthy) with Thai Hanover (Dexter Dunn) edging Canadian-based entrant No Waitlist for fourth and the final spot in the Jug final.

"I let him pace a little bit around last turn, just to make sure he wasn't going to get out-sprinted or anything like that," said Gingras after the first heat win. "But then halfway down the stretch, I grabbed him up and saved some for the next heat.

"You can't think about the final until you make it into the final. I definitely liked my chance going to the elims, but you've still got to go out there and do it."

Ron Burke trains Al Papi for breeders and owners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Jandt Silva- Purnel And Libby of Ocean Ridge, Florida, Larry Karr of Boca Raton, Florida and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The son of Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy is now a four-time winner this year and eight-time winner in his career with more than $1.53 million in career earnings. He returned $3 to win.

Post positions for the Little Brown Jug final are listed below with final driver changes and trainers. An equipment change was reported for Fragment, who will race with no shoes in the final heat.

1. Redland Rocket Man - Jody Jamieson - John Pentland
2. Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
3. Watch Em Win - Chris Page - Ron Burke
4. Frantic Hanover - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke
5. Treacherous Lou - Andrew McCarthy - Robert Cleary
6. Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke
7. Thai Hanover - Dexter Dunn - Mitch York 
8. Fragment - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom

Watch The 2026 Little Brown Jug

The 81st edition of the $915,493 Little Brown Jug, the third leg of pacing's Triple Crown for three-year-olds, headlines Thursday's 19-race card at the Delaware County Fair with live streaming of all the action available.

Post time for Thursday's 19-race card is 11 a.m., with the two $70,423 elimination heats scheduled as races 15 and 16 while the $774,648 final will go as the last race of the day with the top four finishers from each elimination.

Delvin Miller Adios champion Al Papi is the 6-5 morning line favourite in the first elimination and one of four contenders from the powerful Ron Burke stable entered in the Grade 1 event. The Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy colt, who has been a major player in all 12 of his sophomore stakes assignments, will leave from post two with Yannick Gingras driving.

Fragment is the 8-5 early favourite in the second elimination from post three for trainer Petter Engblom with Jason Bartlett driving. A two-time New York Sire Stakes champion, the Huntsville-The Show Returns colt bested Al Papi by half a length in the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Messenger Stakes at Yonkers Raceway.

Canadian-based trainers will be represented in each elimination with Blake MacIntosh trainee No Waitlist (David Miller) and John Pentland pupil Redland Rocket Man (Jody Jamieson) drawing the outside posts six and five, respectively. Redland Rocket is one of two $45,000 USD supplements, with the other being the Noel Daley-trained Toast Of The Town (Jason Bartlett), who will leave just outside of Al Papi from post three in the first elimination. 

The complete fields for the elimination heats are listed below.

$70,423 Little Brown Jug Elimination Heat #1
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Frantic Hanover - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 5-1
2. Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 6-5
3. Toast Of The Town* - Jason Bartlett - Noel Daley - 5-2
4. Thai Hanover - Dexter Dunn - Mitchell York - 5-1
5. Treacherous Lou - Andrew McCarthy - Robert Cleary - 25-1
6. No Waitlist - David Miller - Blake MacIntosh - 7-1

$70,423 Little Brown Jug Elimination Heat #2
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Hunting Glory - Ridge Warren - Robert Cleary - 9-2
2. Watch Em Win - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 8-1
3. Fragment - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom - 8-5
4. Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 9-5
5. Redland Rocket Man* - Jody Jamieson - John Pentland - 9-2
*Supplemental entries.

The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will present a live stream of Thursday's 19-race card, which will be available below.

Click here for free program pages.

(Standardbred Canada)