Following nine weeks of competition, the top drivers from the Coville Cup have their assignments for the $20,000 Brian Jerome Memorial after Rideau Carleton Raceway hosted a special presentation draw for the race on Tuesday (Dec. 7).
A total of 37 horses dropped into the box for the Jerome Memorial, with just nine of the entrants landing a spot on the gate in a draw by lot supervised by Michelle Jerome and Jeff Davidson. Post positions were awarded through the sequence of the draw starting with post 1. Trainers were only allotted a maximum of two starters for the race, with any other horse drawn from their barn following being deemed ineligible for the event. Once the nine finalists had their spots, a second draw was conducted to assign each of the top-nine drivers through the Coville Cup series to a horse, with a driver whose own trainee draws into the race being removed from the draw and instead assigned his own horse to drive.
The field for the $20,000 Brian Jerome Memorial appears below:
Post-Horse Name (Driver, Trainer)
1-Sports Bliss (Normand Beaudoin, Phil Reid)
2-Uno Cincuenta (Bernard Lavigne, Pierre Lepine)
3-Ferrari Fever (Dan Laflamme, Pierre Lepine)
4-St Lads Captain (Darcy Clancy, Darcy Clancy)
5-Aphro Star (Mike Armstrong, Eric Milot)
6-Saskabush Steve (Daniel St. Pierre, Alain Martin)
7-Hardy Mill Joe (William Roy, Anne Marie Turenne)
8-Taskbar Hanover (Jimmy Gagnon, Ron Charette)
9-Sir A (Mike Healey, John MacMillan)
AE1-Blue Moose (TBA, Isabelle Darveau)
AE2-Lucky Leonard (TBA, Victor Puddy)
The Brian Jerome Memorial serves as the final leg of the Coville Cup; drivers through the series have been ranked by purse money earned. With the Jerome Memorial, the winning driver will add $10,000 to their total with second adding $5,000, third adding $2,400, fourth adding $1,600 and fifth adding $1,000. The driver with the highest purse earnings following the Jerome Memorial will be crowned the Coville Cup champion.
The Brian Jerome Memorial goes to post at Rideau Carleton Raceway during its Sunday (Dec. 12) card. First-race post time is 6:30 p.m. (EST).
The replay of the Jerome Memorial draw is available below.