The 25-member Little Brown Jug Society held its annual meeting this morning (Wednesday, September 21) at Ohio Wesleyan University. The LBJ Society voted in several major changes for future Little Brown Jug and Jugettes.

The society voted to eliminate the possibility of a third heat (race-off) starting with the 2017 Little Brown Jug. The event will be raced at two heats and the winner of the second heat will be declared the Little Brown Jug champion.

“Our No. 1 concern is the health of the horses,” noted Tom Wright, president of the Little Brown Jug Society. “We have wrestled with this decision for a number of years. We respect the traditions of the Little Brown Jug, but we felt the long term interest of the horses were more important.”

The society also voted to revise the post-position draw for the second heat starting with the 2018 LBJ. The elimination winners will draw for the inside posts and the remaining positions will be drawn at random.

Supplemental entries to the filly companion event the Jugette will be honoured starting in 2019. Horses not eligible for the three-year-old event may enter for $25,000.

The society also announced that future Jugettes may be raced at one heat should the entries levels dictate. The society will work with the Delaware County Fair racing officials to determine the appropriate number of entries to go one heat. That announcement will be made in the near future.

In other business, Tom Wright (president), Phil Terry (vice president) and Bill Lowe (secretary) were re-elected as officers.

(Little Brown Jug)