Spotlight On The Grand Circuit

The publicity department for the Grand Circuit has sent out its weekly story recapping and previewing Grand Circuit races.

This Week: Meadowlands Pace, Hambletonian Maturity, W.R. Haughton Memorial, Mistletoe Shalee, Stanley Dancer Memorial, Delvin Miller Memorial, and Golden Girls, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J.; and Lawrence B. Sheppard Memorial final, Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, N.Y.

Schedule of events: The stakes heavy Saturday (July 18) Grand Circuit card at the Meadowlands features the $706,000 Meadowlands Pace for three-year-olds, the $443,000 Hambletonian Maturity for 4-year-old trotters, the $403,600 W.R. Haughton Memorial for free for all pacers, two divisions in the $316,950 Stanley Dancer Memorial for three-year-old male trotters, the $213,450 Golden Girls for older pacing mares, the $201,350 Mistletoe Shalee for three-year-old filly pacers, and the $187,000 Delvin Miller Memorial for three-year-old filly trotters.

Saturday Grand Circuit action also includes the $107,500 final at Yonkers in the Lawrence B. Sheppard for two-year-old colt pacers.

Last time: JL Cruze held off a fast-closing Shake It Cerry to win the $250,000 Graduate Series final for 4-year-old trotters this past Saturday night (July 11) at The Meadowlands by a nose in an all-age world record time of 1:49.4 for a mile track. It was the fastest trotting mile in the history of the Meadowlands.

First to the lead was Gural Hanover and Matt Kakaley as they tripped the quarter timer in :26.3. JL Cruze and driver John Campbell were quick to challenge for the lead just past the quarter and had the lead by the :54.2 half, with Gural Hanover behind them.

Father Patrick and Yannick Gingras were then out to challenge for the lead and were on the outside trying to get past Gural Hanover around the final turn. None of them could give JL Cruze a serious challenge, but Shake It Cerry and Jimmy Takter emerged from behind Father Patrick, gaining ground with every stride and falling just short at the wire. Resolve (Ake Svanstedt) was third.

JL Cruze, a gelding by Crazed and a $50,000 supplement to the series, is trained by Eric Ell for owners Ken Wood, Bill Dittmar and Steven Iaquinta.

Wiggle It Jiggleit and In The Arsenal won the two $50,000 eliminations of the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace that same night at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Wiggle It Jiggleit started out in unfamiliar territory at the back of the pack, but ended up in a familiar spot – in front – by a length at the 1:48.4 finish of the second elimination. Wakizashi Hanover (Tim Tetrick) was second and Rock N Roll World (David Miller) was third. Also qualifying for this week’s $706,000 final were Badiou Hanover and Lyons Levi Lewis.

In The Arsenal fired on all cylinders in the first elimination, going wire-to-wire to win by one and a half lengths in 1:49.1. Dealt A Winner (David Miller) closed stoutly from off the pace to be second and Dudes The Man (Corey Callahan) was third. Artspeak and Revenge Shark got the final two spots for the final.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2015, 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 Farm is the sponsor for the 2015 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders following the past weekend:

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 263; 2. Brian Sears – 255; 3. Tim Tetrick – 248; 4. David Miller – 214; 5. Jason Bartlett – 183.