After failing to attract a full field in 2018, the recently-resurrected Jug Preview may once again be a part of harness racing history.
Long a staple of the Grand Circuit and a stop in Ohio ahead of the Little Brown Jug, the Jug Preview made its return to the stakes schedule in 2017 at Scioto Downs after a hiatus of a decade. Last year's race was won by star pacing colt Downbytheseaside, defeating eventual Little Brown Jug champ Filibuster Hanover. The race had a full field of nine, with two horses scratched reducing the starters to seven.
This year, however, just four colts were dropped in the entry box from a total of 61 eligible. Two of those colts were supplements -- Indiana star Always A Prince and Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice. The other two -- Adios champ Dorsoduro Hanover and locally-based Done Well -- were nominated into the race through traditional payments.
The $15,000 in nomination fees that Scioto received for the Jug Preview will be split between the connections of Dorsoduro Hanover and Done Well. The owners of Always A Prince and Courtly Choice get a refund of the $15,000 supplement.
Based on the lacklustre response, Stacy Cahill, GM of Racing Operations for Eldorado Scioto Downs, stated that the Jug Preview likely won't appear on the 2019 stakes schedule.
"This will be the last year I write that race," Cahill told Trot Insider. "Last year it was underwhelming and this year it didn’t fill."
Cahill mentioned that the purse money Scioto designated for the Jug Preview could go toward future editions of the Jim Ewart Memorial, possibly putting the purse for the 2019 Ewart in the $500,000 range.