The Grand Circuit's weekly overview highlights its upcoming races at Meadowlands Racetrack, Hoosier Park and Pocono Downs.
This Week: Breeders Crown finals and Kindergarten Classic Series, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey.; Circle City, Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Anderson, Indiana; and John Simpson Stakes, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Schedule of Events: Breeders Crown finals at The Meadowlands will take place on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26. The Friday card will feature the $700,000 USD finals for two-year-olds of both sexes and gaits. The Saturday night action features the $600,000 USD finals for three-year-olds of both sexes and gaits as well as the $600,000 USD Open Trot, $600,000 USD Open Pace, $496,000 USD Open Mare Trot and $400,000 USD Open Mare Pace.
Also on Friday, The Meadowlands will host a leg of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-olds of both sexes and gaits with each of seven races going for $20,000 USD. There will be a single division in the filly pace and two divisions each in the filly trot, colt trot and colt pace.
Hoosier Park on Friday will have the $55,000 USD Circle City for three-year-old colt pacers, two divisions in the $50,000 USD Circle City for three-year-old filly pacers, the $46,000 USD Circle City for three-year-old filly trotters and the $45,000 USD Circle City for three-year-old colt trotters.
On Saturday, Pocono will host John Simpson Stakes featuring four divisions in the $120,000 USD three-year-old colt pace and three divisions in the $117,010 USD two-year-old filly trot. Next Monday, Oct. 28, Pocono will host more Simpson Stakes with four divisions in the $120,000 USD three-year-old colt trot and two divisions in the $100,200 USD two-year-old filly pace.
Complete entries for the races are available on the United States Trotting Association website at ustrotting.com.
Last time: Breeders Crown eliminations were held last weekend at The Meadowlands. For recaps of those races, click here.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2024, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2024 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders (through the races on Oct. 19, 2024):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 1,538; 2. Yannick Gingras – 941.5; 3. David Miller – 683; 4. Scott Zeron – 631; 5. Todd McCarthy – 586.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 1,056; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 777; 3. Nancy Takter – 559; 4. Marcus Melander – 515; 5. Noel Daley – 364.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 250.7; 2. Determination – 227; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 200.7; 4. Ake Svanstedt Inc. – 155.4; 5. Caviart Farms – 143.6.
Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next weekend at Harrah’s Hoosier Park and The Meadowlands. Hoosier has four stakes for three-year-olds in the Carl Erskine for open trotters, the Monument Circle for male pacers, the Crossroads of America for filly trotters, and the USS Indianapolis for filly pacers. The Meadowlands hosts the fifth leg of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.
(With files from Grand Circuit)