The Grand Circuit's weekly overview highlights its upcoming races at Meadowlands Racetrack.
This Week: Hambletonian, Hambletonian Oaks, John Cashman Memorial, Sam McKee Memorial, Lady Liberty, Dr. John Steele Memorial, Cane Pace, Shady Daisy, Peter Haughton Memorial, Jim Doherty Memorial, and Kindergarten Series, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Schedule of Events: Grand Circuit action begins on Thursday (Aug. 4) at Meadowlands Racetrack with two $20,000 divisions of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-old filly pacers and a single $20,000 division of the Kindergarten Series for two-year-old colt pacers.
Kindergarten Series racing continues Friday (Aug. 5) at The Big M with three $20,000 divisions in the two-year-old filly trot and a pair of $20,000 divisions in the two-year-old colt trot.
Then on Saturday (Aug. 6), The Meadowlands hosts one of the biggest Grand Circuit cards of the season. The afternoon program is led by the $1 million Hambletonian, the second leg of trotting’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds. Other major stakes races to be contested that day are the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for three-year-old filly trotters, the $279,000 John Cashman Memorial for older trotters, the $278,000 Sam McKee Memorial for older pacers, the $173,000 Lady Liberty for older pacing mares, the $145,000 Dr. John Steele Memorial for older trotting mares, the $258,300 Cane Pace, the second leg of Pacing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds, the $92,300 Shady Daisy for three-year-old pacing fillies, the $337,000 Peter Haughton Memorial for two-year-old colt trotters, and the $355,000 Jim Doherty Memorial for two-year-old filly trotters.
Complete entries for the races can be found on the USTA website.
Last Time: On paper, North America Cup winner Pebble Beach and Meadowlands Pace champion Beach Glass looked many lengths better than the rest of the field in Saturday’s (July 30) $350,000 final of the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. But Bythemissal reminded us forcefully that an elite test for 3-year-old male pacers is not contested on paper. To read the complete recap, click here.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2022, 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 2022 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders (through the races on July 30, 2022):
Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 561; 2. Tim Tetrick – 479; 3. Yannick Gingras – 365; 4. Todd McCarthy – 356; 5. David Miller – 308.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 341; 2. Tony Alagna – 316; 3. Ake Svanstedt – 297; 4. Nifty Norman – 219; 5. Brett Pelling – 187.
Owners: 1. David McDuffee – 105.9; 2. Schooner II Stable – 80; 3. Brad Grant – 74.6; 4. Threelyonsracing – 72; 5. Jesmeral Stable – 67.
Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit action will be taking place next week at Northfield Park with the Carl Milstein Memorial for three-year-old pacers; at Hoosier Park with the Dan Patch for free for all pacers; at the Indiana State Fair with the Fox Stake highlighting 10 stakes; and at Charlottetown Driving Park with the Gold Cup and Saucer eliminations for older pacers.
(Grand Circuit)