Fresh off his victory in the Bluegrass Stakes, Little Brown Jug winner Limelight Beach will be looking to ride that high Saturday (October 11) in the $227,000 American National Pace for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings at Balmoral Park.
It is safe to say that Limelight Beach has picked the perfect time of year to blossom.
The sophomore son of Somebeachsomewhere has done nothing less than win his last three starts with aplomb for trainer Ron Burke, and he will now tackle the daunting task of capturing his American National Stakes split Saturday.
Limelight Beach has certainly proven that he’s up to the task, as Burke harnessed the bay gelding to a pair of victories on September 18 in one of harness racing’s most prestigious events, the Little Brown Jug, the second leg of pacing’s Triple Crown.
Contested over Delaware, Ohio’s half-mile, county fair oval, Limelight Beach and driver Yannick Gingras captured the 69th edition of the pacing classic in straight heats of 1:51 and 1:50.4.
“It was a dream come true—winning the Jug,” Gingras said, after he and trainer Burke had both captured their very first Little Brown Jug title.
“Hopefully, this is the start of something big for him,” Burke noted. “Maybe he’s coming into his own now.”
It would appear that is the case. On September 27, Limelight Beach fittingly scored an impressive, wire-to-wire victory in a $92,600 Bluegrass Stakes division at Lexington’s Red Mile in a career best 1:49.1.
Limelight Beach had been paired with Delaware-Ohio based trainer Brian Brown until early July, when he made the switch to the Burke Stable.
Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, M1 Stable and Wingfield Brothers, Limelight Beach won six of 10 races last year, with victories in Bluegrass and International Stallion Stakes divisions as a two-year-old, earning $210,192.
This season he’s amassed $515,038 from 15 starts with three wins, seven seconds and one third, pushing his lifetime bankroll to $725,230.
Limelight Beach was a $25,000 yearling purchase at the 2012 Standardbred Horse Sale at Harrisburg and is the second foal out of the Badlands Hanover mare Benear p,4,1:49.3f ($319,321). He is a full brother to Benearthebeach p,3,1:53.2f ($66,226) and Momas Got A Gun p,2,1:55f ($13,420).
His main rival appears to be stablemate and million-dollar earner JK Endofanera—who won the $218,300 Tattersalls at the Red Mile in 1:49.1 on October 4—and Lets Drink On It, who also won a heat of the Jug in 1:51, but then finished a bottled-up second to Limelight Beach in the final.
Burke, who has conditioned 5,464 winners to $116,631,100 in career earnings, will also throw the harness on the backs of Somesizesomestyle (Post 2) and At Press Time (Post 3) in addition to JK Endofanera (Post 9) and Limelight Beach (Post 8).
(Balmoral)