The $250,000 USD Spirit of Massachusetts Trot has drawn the very best Open class talent in North America to Plainridge Park ever since its inception in 2017 and this year is no exception as the Canadian trotting sensation Logan Park, will be shipping south to Massachusetts to compete on Sunday (July 21).
Logan Park was sold at auction as a yearling for $57,000 at the London Selected Yearling Sale in 2019. The son of Archangel-Rite Outa The Park was purchased by an ownership group that includes trainer Rob Fellows, who has guided the trotter's career ever since.
“Logan Park has been a pleasure to own and train from day one. He’s just a perfect horse. He trains well, he eats good and if he was what horse training is, people would love to do it more often,” said Fellows.
Logan Park had a decent two-year-old campaign winning two starts, one of which was an Ontario Sire Stake. But he started to excel at three. He won five races, four in OSS action, before making his first trip to the U.S. to compete in the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands. There he finished second in his elimination while trotting in 1:51.4 and then drew post 10 in the final, where he made a break after the start.
At four, Logan Park stepped up to the top trotting ranks at Woodbine Mohawk Park while also competing in the Maple Leaf Trot, Charlie Hill Memorial and Caesars Trotting Classic. He had the home track advantage as the Breeders Crown was at Woodbine Mohawk Park in 2022, and finished fifth in the field of 10 in 1:51.
Last year, Logan Park really came into his own. He turned into a win machine, taking 12 victories out of his 20 outings of 2023 and made a lot of headlines along the way. He won seven out of his first 10 starts of the year, all in the top class. On July 4 he won the Free For All at Woodbine Mohawk Park by 5-1/2 lengths in 1:50.3, which established a new track and Canadian record for an older male trotter.
He then won three more in a row in the fall, matching his lifetime mark of 1:50.3 two consecutive times in October.
“He trotted in 1:50.3 three times up here last year. He can leave like a pacer, but then settles very easily. There were only two or three horses that could go with him here, so when he got to the front, we shut it down. But on those record nights, he set good fractions and it worked out fine. This is a good horse,” said Fellows.
Logan Park then ventured to Hoosier Park where he won his elimination of the Breeders Crown handily in 1:52.1. In the $600,000 final, Logan Park cut the mile and led to the stretch where he was overtaken by Southwind Tyrion and finished fourth by only 2-3/4 lengths.
His stellar performances during the season earned him the O’Brien Award for Older Trotter of the Year in 2023.
Logan Park came back from his winter break this year as good as he was when he left the track in November and he started winning again. In his first six starts he has four wins and two seconds. So going back to last season, he has now won nine of his last 12 races.
Both of Logan Park’s second place finishes were to Gaines Hanover, including on June 15 at Woodbine Mohawk Park when Gaines Hanover won in 1:50.2 to break the track and Canadian record Logan Park set last year.
As he heads into the Spirit Trot this weekend, his trainer is optimistic about his chances despite the light workload he's had so far.
“Logan Park is a big, strong horse but we don’t over-train him this time of year because his races are very sporadic. So this race fits in well for him after being off since his win on July 1. I would have liked to have a race coming into this, but we did qualify him this past Tuesday (July 16) where he got a good workout. As long as he ships down okay and eats good while he’s there, he should show a good accounting of himself. He’s as good as a lot of those,” said Fellows.
As it is about a nine hour ship from Milton, Ontario to Plainville, Massachusetts, plus time spent crossing the border, Fellows said Logan Park will ship on Friday (July 19) afternoon to Saratoga and layover there. Then Saturday morning he’ll jog lightly and finish his trip to Plainridge on Sunday morning.
“We’ve staked him up a lot more this year than we did other years because he’s a little more mature and he’s a full fledged horse now. He’s at an age now where if we can keep him sound and healthy he can have a good run. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself because it’s a long year,” said Fellows.
After the Spirit, Logan Park is scheduled to compete in the Earl Rowe Memorial and Maple Leaf Trot in Canada before heading back to the States to race stakes at Hoosier, Dayton, Lexington and then the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands.
“We paid him into the TVG as well because the last two years, he’s been trotting as good and as fast when we put him away in October and November as he did all year. So hopefully he can gather some points and he’s around that long,” said Fellows.
In this year of International Olympic competition, this edition of the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot falls right in line as it sets up a showdown between the 2023 Dan Patch Award aged Trotter of the Year in the U.S., Its Academic, with the 2023 O’Brien Award aged Trotter of the Year in Canada, Logan Park.
“That is really cool if you think about it. And just like hockey, I hope the Canadians beat the Americans,” joked Fellows.
Fellows also has another starter in the Spirit named Esplosione.
"Esplosione was a good horse last year and he won in 1:51.4. He was almost good enough and I thought he would develop more so I paid him into this race. I thought he would come back better than last year but to this point, he’s still just a little behind. But who knows. He drew well and we have Bruce Ranger driving him and he knows his way around that track, so hopefully he can get us a piece of it,” Fellows concluded.
The high-powered Spirit of Massachusetts card will also feature the $100,000 USD Clara Barton Distaff Pace, $75,000 USD Bert Beckwith Invitational Pace, $50,000 USD John Hogan Memorial Pace, $25,000 USD Frank Dubreuil Memorial Pace and $22,500 USD Elmer Smith Memorial Pace. All told, the card will offer $607,000 USD in purses.
The Clara Barton will go as race seven with a post time of 4 p.m. and the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot is carded as race nine with a post time of 4:40 p.m. Post time for the first race on Sunday is 2 p.m.
(Plainridge Park)