As Rob Fellows contemplated how Saturday’s $1 million USD MGM Yonkers International Trot might play out, he came to one conclusion.
"I’m glad I’m a trainer and not a driver."
Fellows will send out Canada’s Logan Park in the International Trot, a 10-horse invitational to be contested at the distance of 1-1/4 miles on MGM Yonkers Raceway’s half-mile oval. Logan Park, the 2023 O’Brien Award winner for best older male trotter in Canada, has hit the board in 16 of his past 17 races dating back to last year, winning 12. His only finish outside the top three during that span was a fourth in the Breeders Crown final.
Logan Park will leave from post five in the International Trot, with Doug McNair in the sulky. The six-year-old gelding is 6-1 on the morning line. He enters the race off a third-place finish in the Maple Leaf Trot, which was won by Periculum.
With 10 starters, eight will line up on the gate and two — Get A Wish and Periculum — will go from the second tier. Jiggy Jog S, a five-year-old mare who has won eight consecutive races since finishing second in last year’s International Trot, is the 5-2 morning-line favourite. She will leave from post four with Dexter Dunn driving for trainer Ake Svanstedt.
The second and third choices on the morning line, Italy’s Vernissage Grif and Sweden’s Hail Mary, will start from two of the least desirable spots, posts eight and seven, respectively. Both horses have earned in excess of $1.7 million (U.S.) in their careers.
Vernissage Grif, who is 7-2, will be driven by trainer Alessandro Gocciadoro, the conditioner of last year’s International Trot champ Vivid Wise As. Vernissage Grif, a 10-year-old stallion, has won multiple Group 1 races in his career, including this season’s Gran Criterium de Vitesse in France in 1:49.3.
Eight-year-old stallion Hail Mary, another multiple Group 1 winner, is 9-2 and will have Örjan Kihlström in the sulky for trainer Daniel Redén.
“Nobody knows the horses much from Europe,” Fellows said. “Obviously, we know Jiggy Jog. Periculum, who just went two nice easy trips (to win his Maple Leaf Trot elimination and the final), his form is good right now. He’s got one of the best money drivers out there in Scott Zeron, so you know he’s going to be looming very close. Then you’ve got some of the other favoured horses outside of you.
“It’s going to be … I don’t know what it’s going to be. With two trailers, if you leave hard at a mile and a quarter, you’re not going to have much left. If you take back, there is a lot of traffic. Our horses aren’t used to racing two and three wide the whole mile, where the Europeans are, but at slower fractions. They don’t mind floating out and sitting outside the whole mile. It will be an intriguing race.”
Logan Park, a son of Archangel-Rite Outa The Park, has won 31 of 75 career races and earned more than $1.35 million. His top win this season came in the Earl Rowe Memorial Trot at Georgian Downs in August. Last year, he trotted 1:50.3 on three occasions, missing the time for the fastest-ever mile in Canada by just one-fifth of a second.
“He’s a beautiful horse,” said Fellows, who helps trains Logan Park with son Kyle for owners Outofthepark Stable, Reg Higgs, and Arpad Szabo. “He’s a good horse. You wish you could have a barnful of them, but they come along once in a lifetime if you’re lucky.”
Logan Park competed on International Trot Day at Yonkers in 2023, finishing seventh in the Bob Miecuna Invitational after starting from post eight in a 10-horse field going 1-1/4 miles. This Saturday, he will get to try his luck in the afternoon’s main event.
“You just want it to be a safe trip for everybody,” Fellows said. “After that, you hope it’s competitive. And of course: Go, Canada, go.”
The MGM Yonkers International Trot is race five on the 11-race program and has an estimated post of 2 p.m. (EDT). The full field, with country represented plus listed driver, trainer and morning line, is listed below.
$1 million USD MGM Yonkers International Trot
Post - Horse (Country) - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Eclat De Gloire (France) - Loris Garcia - Loris Garcia - 20-1
2. Ideal San Leandro (France) - Bjorn Goop - Richard Westerink - 20-1
3. Castor The Star (Sweden) - Mats Djuse - Jorgen Westholm - 10-1
4. Jiggy Jog S (Sweden) Dexter Dunn - Ake Svanstedt - 5-2
5. Logan Park (Canada) - Doug McNair - Rob Fellows - 6-1
6. Its Academic (USA) - David Miller - Ron Burke - 8-1
7. Hail Mary (Sweden) - Orjan Kihlstrom - Daniel Reden - 9-2
8. Vernissage Grif (Italy) - Alessandro Gocciadoro - Alessandro Gocciadoro - 7-2
9.] Get A Wish (Denmark) - Johan Untersteiner - Johan Untersteiner - 15-1
10.] Periculum (USA) - Scott Zeron - Marcus Melander - 5-1
(USTA)