The $120,000 Courageous Lady has drawn an impressive field of eight and goes postward this Saturday evening (October 14) as Northfield Park’s eleventh race.
Approximate post time for this Grand Circuit event is 9:55 p.m. The race is an open contest for North America’s top three-year-old-filly pacers.
The 2017 $120,000 Courageous Lady Field:
1. Bourbon And Barley is trained on the Northfield Park backstretch by Kent Sherman. The Charley Barley filly is all-Buckeye and finished second in the Ohio Sires Stakes Final for Independence, Ohio owner Kenneth Kohut. This 8-1 morning-line contender will be driven by Ryan Stahl, who won the 2012 edition of the Courageous Lady. Bourbon And Barley has only one win in 20 career starts, but has amassed earnings of $205,605. She has a 1:55.4 record paced in July of this year over the Flying Turns in a qualifier.
2. Al Mar Got A Fever also has owners hailing from the Buckeye State. She is trained in southern Ohio by Steve Carter for the partnership of Grubbs, Kresheck, Whitacre, and RBR Racing. She has finished in the top three in 14 of 17 career starts, earning $148,001 and a 1:52 lifetime mark at Hoosier Park. She enters this event off two consecutive victories and is undefeated since being introduced to the breathing medication Lasix. Chris Page has been named to drive this 9-2 third favourite.
3. Ella Christina is trained by Nick Surick for the owning partnership of Surick, Benson, Daggett, and Vukovic. The 3-1 second choice enters this race off a 1:50.2 lifetime mark at Lexington’s Red Mile, where she lost by a neck in the $88,250 Bluegrass two starts back. This daughter of Western Ideal has won six of 15 races this year and boasts lifetime earnings of $164,638. Famed driver Tim Tetrick travels to Cleveland for the driving assignment.
4. Big City Betty has five wins to her credit. She is trained by Steve Salerno, who co-owns this filly with Bruce Potter. The daughter of Bettors Delight has earnings of $124,437 and a 1:53.4 mark taken last year at Pocono Downs. Big City Betty carries a 12-1 morning line and attracts Northfield Park leading driver Aaron Merriman. Merriman is the 2015 and 2016 U.S. dash driving champion and is poised to three-peat that title this year.
5. Terrortina is owned by Robert Key and trained by Norm Parker. She has five career victories, winning her most recent effort in a career best 1:53 at The Meadows. The daughter of Western Terror has bankrolled $131,904. She is one of two fillies in this Courageous Lady field that competed in the second heat of this year’s Jugette at the historic Delaware County Fairgrounds last month. Pennsylvanian Tony Hall has been given the driving assignment aboard this 6-1 morning-line contender.
6. Bettors Up is one of two Bettors Delight fillies in this year’s Courageous Lady. The Scott McEneny trainee has been named the 5-2 morning-line favourite by Northfield Park Executive Vice President of Racing and Simulcasting Dave Bianconi. She has 11 wins in 24 career efforts and is hoping to extend her three-race win streak. She has a 1:49.4 mark at Mohawk’s 7/8-mile track and has earned $552,129 for Canadian owners Bradley Grant, Teresa Davidson, and Michelle McEneny. Brett Miller has been named to drive.
7. Rosemary Rose is one of two Buckeye-breds in this field and is one of two fillies in this race trained by harness racing’s leading trainer Ron Burke. The daughter of Foreclosure N is owned by the partnership of Burke Racing, Melillo, and Weaver Bruscemi, LLC. She has 10 wins in 23 races and carries a 1:52 mark over Northfield Park’s half-mile oval. Mike Wilder accepts the driving assignment and hopes to add to her $171,292 bankroll. She has drawn an outside post and carries a 10-1 morning line.
8. Pittstop Danika is another trainee of the Burke brigade. She goes to post from the extreme outside for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, LLC, and M1 Stables. She has seven wins in 30 starts with earnings of $139,076. This Yankee Cruiser filly has a 1:52 mark at Pocono Downs paced earlier this year. Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. has been given the driving assignment on the 15-1 longshot. Wrenn is a top reinsman and won the nation’s dash title in 2013 and 2014.
The undercard is also impressive, as it contains eight $50,000 Ohio Sires Stake Consolation Races and Northfield’s annual Pinktober Pace for the Cure race of all female drivers to race money and awareness for breast cancer research. Collectively, in excess of $575,000 in purses will be distributed throughout the night’s 15-race program.
From 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., patrons can participate in the Northfield Park Beer Slide and a Leinenkugel Stein Hoist is set for 9:00 p.m.
Lady Luck’s Clubhouse Restaurant’s buffet will be open. Reservations are encouraged and can be made for the $15.95 buffet by calling 330-467-4101.
Admission and parking are always free at Northfield Park. The evening carries a 6:00 p.m. first race post time.
(Northfield Park)