Canadian-campaigned supplemental entry Redland Rocket Man and driver Jody Jamieson captured the 81st edition of the Grade 1 Little Brown Jug, the third leg of pacing's Triple Crown for three-year-olds, at Ohio's Delaware County Fair on Thursday, Sept. 24.
After a backstretch blast from last to win his elimination heat in 1:50.2, the John Pentland-trained Redland Rocket Man and Jamieson returned three races later for the final heat and led at every call in a 1:49.4 triumph.
In the $774,648 final, with half the field from the stable of five-time Little Brown Jug-winning trainer Ron Burke, Redland Rocket Man pushed ahead at the inside of the quick-leaving Al Papi (Yannick Gingras), the other elim winner, in the first turn. Firing out of post six, a looming Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) then landed in the pocket seat ahead of Al Papi with their Burke stablemate Watch Em Win (Chris Page) following in fourth.
Redland Rocket Man sprinted a first quarter in :26.2 before getting a breather to the half in :55.3. At the midway mark, Al Papi launched his first-over bid from third with Watch Em Win following second-over but gapping cover into the backstretch the final time.
Al Papi challenged alongside the leader as they raced by three-quarters in 1:22.3, but Redland Rocket Man shrugged him off in the final turn and opened up more than four lengths for the victory in a :27.1 final quarter. Melillo finished second over Al Papi while the Petter Engblom trainee Fragment (Jason Bartlett) rallied from the back for fourth with Watch Em Win rounding out the top five.
"That friggin' Yannick! You just never know what he's gonna do," quipped Jamieson when asked about the early action. "I mean, I thought I had my horse ready to leave, and I didn't, and he near got around me. If he gets around me, I don't know how this race goes. I feel like I had the best horse going into the race, but it was still the first turn until I knew that I was gonna secure the lead, and then Melillo was out there, and I know they're both entries, and I figured he was going to drop on my back and Al Papi had a good shot at me, and that's exactly how it worked out. But there were some anxious moments just through the stretch here the first time."
Jamieson celebrated his second Little Brown Jug victory after winning his first back in 2007 with the Blair Burgess-trained Tell All.
"It's amazing. I don't know how many guys have won twice, and I don't know if it's ever been that far apart, almost 20 years," commented the three-time Driver of the Year. "I guess it's just a microcosm of what my career has been. You know, I was really hot 19 years ago, and not so much since. But the last couple years, it's been pretty amazing, and a good chance to come back here today to Delaware, Ohio.
"To do it in front of this crowd here, it's amazing," he added. "It's just an amazing day. The horse performed amazing. Everybody just did their job. To quote Mike Lachance, 'Everybody did their job, including me, which I was most happy about.'"
Redland Rocket Man provided Pentland and partners Murray Cox of Rockwood, Ont. and Gary Volpe St. Thomas, Ont., with their first Little Brown Jug victory after making the decision to ante up the $45,000 USD supplemental fee to enter the Jug.
A top contender in the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series, the Bulldog Hanover-Granny Hanover gelding had delivered a game runner-up effort to Melillo over the half-mile Ohio oval at Northfield Park in the Grade 2 Carl Milstein Memorial in mid-August and was supplemented after posting a 1:46.4 sophomore world record mile for pacing geldings in the Grade 3 Simcoe Stakes on Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
That decision paid off for a prudent Pentland.
"I think for pacing, it's the biggest race," said the Dorchester, Ont. trainer. "It goes for basically the same money as any of the other top races [with] far more prestige. They're going two trips; it's so rare now, but it shows the character of a horse."
Bred by Redland Farms of Bible Hill, N.S., Redland Rocket Man improved to seven-for-26 in his career and boosted his earnings to $946,421.
"I'm a very, very proud Canadian, and I know at home, us Canadians, we were all rooting for this horse," smiled Pentland.
"The hospitality here is great and I just really appreciate you guys having us... and Go Canada!"
Redland Rocket Man paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favourite.
Redland Rocket Man, Al Papi Win Jug Eliminations
Canadian contender Redland Rocket Man and driver Jody Jamieson blasted from the back with a quarter-mile to go and drew off to win the second $70,423 elimination heat of the Little Brown Jug in 1:50.2 on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Ohio's Delaware County Fairgrounds.
Hunting Glory (Ridge Warren) got the first call from the inside post with Watch Em Win (Tim Tetrick) tucking behind and Fragment (Jason Bartlett) pressing on to clear past a :27 opening quarter. Once Fragment made front, 4-5 favourite Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) swept up from third alongside to wage a front-end war as they raced in front of the grandstand the first time and gained a slight advantage on the outside at the half in :54.1.
Fragment regained the lead just ahead of Melillo down the backstretch while Jamieson had Redland Rocket Man ready to fire from the back of the five-pack and orbited three-wide, accelerating to the top past three-quarters in 1:22.4 as a resurgent Melillo overtook Fragment in second. Once Redland Rocket Man swooped the group, he kept on going to win by nearly five lengths with a :27.2 final frame. A shuffled Watch Em Win rallied for second over Melillo with Fragment finishing back in fourth.
"It was cool," said winning trainer John Pentland of Redland Rocket Man's big backstretch move. "The race set up well with a lot of front end speed and that guy getting parked, but I take nothing away from my colt. He's got a motor that he just never runs out of gas."
Owned by Pentland of Dorchester, Ont. along with partners Murray Cox of Rockwood, Ont. and Gary Volpe St. Thomas, Ont., Redland Rocket Man was supplemented for $45,000 USD to the Jug off a 1:46.4 sophomore world record for pacing geldings in the Grade 3 Simcoe Stakes on Sept. 12 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
"He's earned his way here," said Pentland. "He raced fabulous at Northfield [Park finishing second in the Carl Milstein Memorial]. He's on his game. Jody has done a great job with him since he started driving him."
Bred by Redland Farms of Bible Hill, N.S., the Bulldog Hanover-Granny Hanover gelding has won six of his 25 career starts with earnings totalling $559,097.
Redland Rocket Man paid $4.80 to win as the 7-5 second choice.
Al Papi was all business in the first $70,423 elimination heat of the 2026 Little Brown Jug for three-year-old pacers on Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio.
Driver Yannick Gingras floated 1-2 choice Al Papi away from post two and worked his way to the lead around stablemate Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) through the opening turn. After a :27.2 first quarter, Gingras geared down the tempo and stole a :29.2 second panel to hit the half in :56.4. Second choice Toast Of The Town (Jason Bartlett) started a first-over bid just before the halfway mark but didn't make it to the leader's bridle. Al Papi hit the third quarter in 1:24 and then closed in a geared-down :27.1 for the 1:51.1 score. Frantic Hanover finished second, 1-1/4 lengths back, followed by Treacherous Lou (Andy McCarthy) with Thai Hanover (Dexter Dunn) edging Canadian-based entrant No Waitlist for fourth and the final spot in the Jug final.
"I let him pace a little bit around last turn, just to make sure he wasn't going to get out-sprinted or anything like that," said Gingras after the first heat win. "But then halfway down the stretch, I grabbed him up and saved some for the next heat.
"You can't think about the final until you make it into the final. I definitely liked my chance going to the elims, but you've still got to go out there and do it."
Ron Burke trains Al Papi for breeders and owners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Jandt Silva- Purnel And Libby of Ocean Ridge, Florida, Larry Karr of Boca Raton, Florida and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The son of Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy is now a four-time winner this year and eight-time winner in his career with more than $1.53 million in career earnings. He returned $3 to win.
Post positions for the Little Brown Jug final are listed below with final driver changes and trainers. An equipment change was reported for Fragment, who will race with no shoes in the final heat.
1. Redland Rocket Man - Jody Jamieson - John Pentland
2. Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
3. Watch Em Win - Chris Page - Ron Burke
4. Frantic Hanover - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke
5. Treacherous Lou - Andrew McCarthy - Robert Cleary
6. Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke
7. Thai Hanover - Dexter Dunn - Mitch York
8. Fragment - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom
Watch The 2026 Little Brown Jug
The 81st edition of the $915,493 Little Brown Jug, the third leg of pacing's Triple Crown for three-year-olds, headlines Thursday's 19-race card at the Delaware County Fair with live streaming of all the action available.
Post time for Thursday's 19-race card is 11 a.m., with the two $70,423 elimination heats scheduled as races 15 and 16 while the $774,648 final will go as the last race of the day with the top four finishers from each elimination.
Delvin Miller Adios champion Al Papi is the 6-5 morning line favourite in the first elimination and one of four contenders from the powerful Ron Burke stable entered in the Grade 1 event. The Papi Rob Hanover-Baron Remy colt, who has been a major player in all 12 of his sophomore stakes assignments, will leave from post two with Yannick Gingras driving.
Fragment is the 8-5 early favourite in the second elimination from post three for trainer Petter Engblom with Jason Bartlett driving. A two-time New York Sire Stakes champion, the Huntsville-The Show Returns colt bested Al Papi by half a length in the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Messenger Stakes at Yonkers Raceway.
Canadian-based trainers will be represented in each elimination with Blake MacIntosh trainee No Waitlist (David Miller) and John Pentland pupil Redland Rocket Man (Jody Jamieson) drawing the outside posts six and five, respectively. Redland Rocket is one of two $45,000 USD supplements, with the other being the Noel Daley-trained Toast Of The Town (Jason Bartlett), who will leave just outside of Al Papi from post three in the first elimination.
The complete fields for the elimination heats are listed below.
$70,423 Little Brown Jug Elimination Heat #1
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Frantic Hanover - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 5-1
2. Al Papi - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 6-5
3. Toast Of The Town* - Jason Bartlett - Noel Daley - 5-2
4. Thai Hanover - Dexter Dunn - Mitchell York - 5-1
5. Treacherous Lou - Andrew McCarthy - Robert Cleary - 25-1
6. No Waitlist - David Miller - Blake MacIntosh - 7-1
$70,423 Little Brown Jug Elimination Heat #2
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Hunting Glory - Ridge Warren - Robert Cleary - 9-2
2. Watch Em Win - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 8-1
3. Fragment - Jason Bartlett - Petter Engblom - 8-5
4. Melillo - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 9-5
5. Redland Rocket Man* - Jody Jamieson - John Pentland - 9-2
*Supplemental entries.
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will present a live stream of Thursday's 19-race card, which will be available below.
Click here for free program pages.
(Standardbred Canada)
Superior decision making and…
Superior decision making and great work John...... you made Canada proud !!!! Oh.... and we should throw something in there for Jody... Superior drive man..... we all just loved it!!
Redland Rocket Man
Congratulations to Arnold Hagen and Redland Farms of Prince Edward Island on your historic win in the 2026 Little Brown Jug. Most breeders spend a lifetime trying to get a horse of this caliber and Arnold bred him in his third crop of yearlings. He has a full brother in the Harrisburg sale which may set another record for price for an Island foaled yearling.