The connections of two four-year-old trotters have paid a $45,000 supplement fee to become eligible to this year’s Maple Leaf Trot.

Supplements to the Maple Leaf Trot were due Monday morning, while the entry box for this Saturday’s (September 12) eliminations closes Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Both four-year-old trotters bred in Ontario, JL Cruze and Resolve join a strong group of 30 trotters eligible to one of the top trotting events in the world.

A son of Crazed, JL Cruze has been harness racing’s surprise trotter of the year. Purchased for $32,000 at last fall’s Harrisburg Mixed Sale, the gelding has won 16 of 19 starts this season and earned over $620,000 for owners Kenneth Wood, William Dittmar and Stephen Iaquinta.

Trained by Eric Ell, JL Cruze’s biggest victories this season came in the $250,000 Graduate Final and $443,300 Hambletonian Maturity at The Meadowlands.

A son of Muscle Hill, Resolve has just a single victory from eight starts this season, but the Ake Svanstedt trainee has been consistent with seven top-three finishes. His lone victory this season was a sparkling 1:50.4 performance in the $75,000 Vincennes Trot at The Meadowlands.

Owned by Hans Enggren, Resolve has earned over $223,000 this season.

With the two supplements, the purse for this year’s Maple Leaf Trot is expected to be just shy of $700,000.

Maple Leaf Trot night on Saturday, September 19 at Mohawk Racetrack will be an All-Star trotting card with six trotting stakes finals, including the Canadian Trotting Classic and Elegantimage.

(WEG)