After putting up a $15,000 USD supplemental payment to get Vanna By The River into the $265,000 USD Grade 1 Jugette on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at the Delaware County Fair, longtime owner John Swider watched his filly draw post eight – the worst starting spot at the half-mile oval – for event’s first heat.
And while disappointed, Swider and his wife, Elizabeth, are taking it in stride.
“Somebody has got to draw the eight-hole, and unfortunately, we drew the eight-hole,” said Swider, who races as Our Three Sons Stable LLC. “We don’t know how that’s going to work out. But we’ve been doing this since the late 80s, and you’re blessed to get a horse like this. When I was younger, you’d get a little bit more frustrated and a little bit more uptight. Now, you’re just blessed to be there competing with these (other stables). We have a small barn, six to eight horses every year, and to compete with the big barns, it’s pleasing.”
Vanna By The River heads to the Jugette, for three-year-old female pacers, off a second-place finish in the $416,667 Ohio Sires Stakes championship for sophomore pacing fillies on Sept. 12 at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Aaron Merriman returns to the sulky for trainer Cory Stratton for the Jugette, where the finishing order of the eight horses in the $25,000 USD first heat will determine the starting positions for the $240,000 USD final later in the day.
Loua Dipa, one of three fillies entered from the stable of trainer Ron Burke, is the 3-1 morning-line favourite in the Jugette’s opener. The homebred daughter of Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper, who was a divisional Dan Patch Award winner last year, will leave from post three with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. in the sulky.
Vanna By The River is 6-1 on the morning line. She has hit the board in 13 of 16 races this year, including the past eight in a row. The daughter of Downbytheseaside-Sweet Ace has posted four wins overall and earned $297,892 this season.
“My wife and I figured that she’s earned the right to try these girls in the Jugette,” Swider said. “She’s got gate speed and can put herself in play. She’s uber-consistent, whether it be racing her or training her. She comes to play every day.
“She paid for her way, so we’re going to take the shot.”
This will be the Swiders' second trip to the Jugette as owners. In 2015, they saw their Mosquito Blue Chip go off as the 6-5 favourite in her elimination only to go off stride on the first turn and fail to advance to the final.
“We looked at each other after about four seconds and said, ‘Well, that was a good Jugette for us,’” Swider said with an ironic laugh.
The Swiders will hope for better luck moving forward with Vanna By The River, who was a $64,865 purchase at the 2024 Ohio Selected Jug Sale. She was winless in 10 outings as a two-year-old but still banked $76,866 and had a second-place finish in a division of the Ohio Breeders Championship for freshman filly pacers at the Delaware County Fair.
“One of the agents that we use, Jeff Nisonger, really did the leg work for us,” Swider said about buying Vanna By The River. “We went to the sale, put our hand up, and we got her. We paid $48,000 (USD) for her, and we’ve been rewarded.
“All the praise goes to the Stratton kids and their team. The year-over-year transformation has been remarkable. We got her on a program that we’re consistent with, and she’s delivered for us. She has just been fantastic.”
If all goes well after the Jugette, Vanna By The River could head to the Courageous Lady at Northfield Park on Oct. 10 before finishing her campaign in the Simpson Memorial on Oct. 26 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. Then she would get time to freshen up for her four-year-old season in 2027, which could include the Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series at MGM Yonkers Raceway in the spring.
“We took that route with Easy To Please when she was four (in 2022), and she won two legs and finished third in the final,” Swider said. “We’re going to try to turn this into something special. It’s been a good run for us.”
While Vanna By The River received the worst starting spot at the Delaware County Fair’s half-mile oval, Darlins Angel got what has historically been the best – post one. The Juan Cano-trained daughter of Captaintreacherous-Darlins Delight will leave from the inside with driver Lauren Tritton and is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line.
Darlins Angel has hit the board in eight of nine races this year, winning four and earning $289,941. The only time she finished outside the top three came in her most recent race, a sixth-place finish in the $416,667 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship on Sept. 6 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. Prior to that, she had back-to-back second-place efforts in graded stakes, the James M. Lynch Memorial (G1) on Aug. 22 at Pocono Downs and the Shady Daisy (G3) on Aug. 8 at the Meadowlands.
“Her last race, she was a little sick, but I’m really happy with the way she’s coming along right now,” said Cano, who conditions Darlins Angel for breeder/owner Hot Lead Farm. “I told the owner, she is my special horse. I knew when she was a baby that she was something special.
“She’s a really nice horse to be around. When you train her, she only gets on the bit when you ask her. She doesn’t do anything crazy. You can race from the back, from the front; she does anything you ask of her.”
For her career, Darlins Angel has won eight of 16 starts, hit the board an additional five times, and earned $395,865.
Morning-line favourite Loua Dipa heads to the Jugette off a 1:51.2 qualifier win on Sept. 15 at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. In her previous race, which came following time off because of throat surgery, she finished third in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship on Sept. 6 at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Her wins this season include the Fan Hanover (G1) and Jerry Silverman Memorial (G3). Prior to her time off, she took on male rivals in the Adios (G1) at The Meadows, where she was fourth in her elimination and seventh in the final.
For her career, Loua Dipa has hit the board in 18 of 21 starts, with 13 victories and $1.6 million in purses for breeders/owners Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
She is joined in the Jugette by stablemates Sandyboots Yankee and Im A Lou Lou, who are both 5-1 on the morning line.
Sandyboots Yankee, who brings a three-race winning streak to the Jugette, will leave from post two with driver Yannick Gingras. The daughter of Always B Miki-A Beach Cowgirl is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Larry Karr and Phil Collura.
Im A Lou Lou enters the Jugette off a 1:49.3 win in a division of the Keystone Classic on Sept. 18 at The Meadows. The daughter of Sweet Lou-Benear, who will leave from post five with driver Tim Tetrick, is a half-sister to 2014 Little Brown Jug winner Limelight Beach. She is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Knox Services Inc., Karr and Collura.
“Sandyboots has been really good,” ownership partner Mark Weaver said. “She’s kind of turned it around the last month. We had trouble getting her in, and now that she’s been racing, she’s been really good. Im A Lou Lou seems to be back on her game.
“But if Loua Dipa is back to herself, and from everything I’ve heard she is, I would think she’d be pretty tough in there. She had a little throat procedure done and it seems to have worked great.”
Ron Burke holds the record for Jugette training wins, with five. Burke Racing Stable has the record for owner victories, with six.
The field for the Jugette heat is below.
$25,000 USD Jugette Elimination Heat
Post - Horse - Listed Driver - Trainer - Morning Line
1. Darlins Angel - Lauren Tritton - Juan Cano - 4-1
2. Sandyboots Yankee - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 5-1
3. Loua Dipa - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 3-1
4. Kilauea Hanover - Mike Wilder - Norm Parker - 25-1
5. Im A Lou Lou - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 5-1
6. Perfect Thought - Scott Zeron - Jason McGinnis - 7-1
7. Ideal Beauty Queen - Dexter Dunn - Jake Huff - 7-1
8. Vanna By The River* - Aaron Merriman - Cory Stratton - 6-1
*Supplemental entry
Racing begins at 11 a.m. (EDT) on Wednesday at the Delaware County Fair. The Jugette first heat is Race 18 and the final is the Race 21 finale.
(USTA)