Vintage Master will look to add the second jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown to his resume on Thursday, September 24, by winning the $650,000 Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio
. The draw for the Jug is Saturday. Among the other horses eligible to the event is Well Said, who won the sport’s two million-dollar races for three-year-old pacers, the Pepsi North America Cup and the Meadowlands Pace.
Earlier this month, Vintage Master won the Cane Pace, which is the first jewel in the Triple Crown. Vintage Master, driven by Daniel Dube for trainer Jimmy Takter, won the race by 5-1/2 lengths over Clear Vision in a stakes record 1:50.4. The time also tied the Freehold Raceway track record.
In August, Vintage Master won the Delvin Miller Adios at The Meadows in western Pennsylvania. It was Vintage Master’s second career win in 25 starts, although the colt had second-place finishes in the Meadowlands Pace and New Jersey Classic. He has earned $1.1 million lifetime.
“I liked the horse always, thought he was a nice horse, but he turned from a nice horse to a great horse and not many of them do it,” Takter said. “Especially with so many starts, they show what they are. I think this horse is still going, still developing. I think he’s actually not a hundred percent developed.”
Takter, who won the 2006 Little Brown Jug with Mr Feelgood, was impressed with Vintage Master’s wire-to-wire win in the Cane Pace. Takter missed the race because he was in Canada with a group of his horses.
“When I saw the way he was racing, it rarely happens to me, but I got very emotional,” Takter said. “It was scary. That was the first time he cut the mile. He is the laziest horse God ever created. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse lazier than him. Absolutely the laziest animal I’ve ever seen. He is a character, this guy.
“He’s a great bred horse and he’s got beautiful conformation, he’s very sound and what really makes him special is that he has a heck of a set of lungs,” he added. “His heart rate was 78 after the Cane Pace. We always check the heart rate on our horses about 12 minutes after the race and mostly they’re in the mid or high 90s. It’s like the horse never got put in to gear. That’s what makes him special. I’m excited going in to the Jug.”
Well Said, who has won eight of 10 races this year and earned $1.6 million, is the top-rated pacer in the current harness racing poll. One of Well Said’s losses came against Vintage Master in the Adios. Well Said is coming off back-to-back stakes wins, in the Battle of the Brandywine and Simcoe.
“I think Vintage can beat him [Well Said],” Takter said. “Mr Feelgood was a quick horse and could leave the gate and Vintage can leave the gate, too. In this race, you’re going to get a lot of respect for that.”
The final jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown, the Messenger Stakes, is November 7 at Yonkers Raceway.
(Harness Racing Communications)