It has been announced that driver Jeff Gregory will be steering Market Share this weekend.
Market Share has visited six different states and the Canadian province of Ontario during his award-winning harness racing career, but has never been to Ohio. That will change this weekend.
Coming off a world record performance 10 days ago, Market Share heads to Scioto Downs for Saturday’s $200,000 Charlie Hill Memorial for older trotters. Market Share drew Post 4 in a field of 10 and will be driven by Jeff Gregory for trainer Linda Toscano.
The Charlie Hill Memorial field also features Arch Madness, Archangel, Creatine, Undercover Strike, Modern Family, Fusion Man, Major Athens, Rompaway Beau, and DWs NY Yank.
Toscano said she was “on the fence” whether to go to the race, particularly because Market Share’s regular driver, Tim Tetrick, would be unavailable due to commitments in Canada, but made the decision after talking with owner Richard Gutnick.
“We sat down yesterday and talked about it,” Toscano said. “We made a ‘pro’ and ‘con’ list and the only thing on the ‘con’ list was we’re not going to have our driver. But we’re very fortunate to have Jeff Gregory in the barn and there’s a break from Yonkers and the New York Sire Stakes this week, so he can go and drive the horse.
“Our next main goal is to have him as good as we can for the Maple Leaf Trot (in mid-July). I think this race fits his schedule nicely and he seems good. I understand the track is great out there, so we’re going to take a shot.”
Gregory drove Market Share to a five-for-five season as a two-year-old in 2011. For his career, the five-year-old Market Share has won 23 of 42 races and earned $3.26 million. He was named the 2012 Dan Patch Award winner for best three-year-old male trotter and the 2013 Dan Patch Award winner for best older male trotter.
He is owned by Gutnick, TLP Stable, and Bill Augustine.
Market Share’s victories include the 2012 Hambletonian Stakes and Canadian Trotting Classic, the 2013 Breeders Crown and Maple Leaf Trot, and this year’s Maxie Lee Memorial Invitational.
In winning the Maxie Lee on May 25 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, Market Share trotted history’s fastest mile on a five-eighths track, stopping the timer in 1:50.2. Scioto Downs also is a five-eighths-mile oval.
“He came out of the Maxie Lee really, really well,” Toscano said. “He had a nice easy week last week and should be ready to go.”
Market Share is not the only star in the Charlie Hill Memorial.
Ten-year-old Arch Madness is one of just nine trotters to earn more than $4 million in career purses. He has won 34 of 111 lifetime races, including the 2007 Breeders Crown, 2008 Maple Leaf Trot, and 2011 Oslo Grand Prix. He is a two-time runner-up in the international invitational Elitlopp in Sweden.
Archangel and Creatine both won Trotting Triple Crown races at age three; Archangel capturing the 2012 Yonkers Trot and Creatine the 2013 Kentucky Futurity.
Modern Family is coming into the Charlie Hill off a second-place finish in the Cutler Memorial on May 17 and has finished no worse than third in 11 starts this year. He has won five times.
DWs NY Yank leads the field in earnings this year, with $171,600, and has excelled on smaller tracks. He has won nine of his last 14 starts around five-eighths-mile ovals and failed to hit the board only once.
“It’s going to be a good race,” Toscano said. “It all goes to promoting the horse and promoting the industry. That’s the beauty of the older horses. I think we’re going to find that the older horses really develop a following. People really like watching quality horses race.
“Years ago, the horse was the star. I’m all about making the horse the star. I believe in it. I love that.”
Racing in Ohio has enjoyed a resurgence since the introduction of video lottery terminals in 2012 and has attracted some of the sport’s best horses for Grand Circuit events.
“It’s nice to see Ohio is getting back on the map again,” Toscano said. “They’ve always been good fans. Probably the single-biggest turnout every year is the Little Brown Jug, so Ohio has been very good to Standardbred racing. It’s kind of fun to be able to pay back a little bit and go out there and race.”
The field for the Charlie Hill Memorial appears below.
1 – Arch Madness – Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
2 – Archangel – Chris Page
3 – Creatine – Mike Lachance
4 – Market Share – Jeff Gregory
5 – Undercover Strike – Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
6 – Modern Family – Dave Palone
7 – Fusion Man – Dan Noble
8 – Major Athens – Tony Hall
9 – Rompaway Beau – Don Harmon
10 – DWs NY Yank – Ronnie Wrenn Jr.*
(* - DWs NY Yank will start from the second tier)
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.