The Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) $100,000 final events for two-year-olds will highlight this week (October 4-6) of racing at Harrington Raceway.
Tonight (October 4), Harrington will feature the final for male pacers as a George Teague Jr., Clyde Francis-trained duo drew the coveted inside posts in the contentious grouping. Its Above Me Now (3-1, Montrell Teague) and Itspronounced Jif (5-2, Ross Wolfenden) will start from post position one and two, both fresh off elimination wins by a neck on September 27. The duo is sired by Southwind Lynx, who is also the sire of Kdk Standardbreds’ Heinikin Bythebay (9-2, Jason Thompson). He drew post eight, but is riding a four-race win streak and joined Its Above Me Now as the only ones to sweep their eliminations. Heinikin Bythebay is trained by Kevin Switzer. The race is carded as the fifth on the 15-race program, which is the payoff leg for the early Pick 4 (Races 2-5).
The pacing fillies will be in the spotlight on Tuesday night, with dual elimination sweep victors set to square off. Let It Ride Stables’ Shabby Chic (7-5, Tim Tetrick) and Gty Stable’s Gaitway Gal (3-1, Pat Berry) figure to be the overwhelming favourites as the co-scourges of the division. Shabby Chic, a daughter of Badlands Hanover, is four-for-four lifetime for trainer Mike Hall, while Delmarvalous-sired Gaitway Gal is four-for-five in her career for trainer Jeffrey Smith. A field of eight fillies will head to the starting gate in the fifth race.
Trotters will take center stage Wednesday with the DSBF filly trotters lining up behind the gate in the second and male trotters in the fourth. The filly division is one of the more wide open splits in recent years as there were no repeat elimination winners. Fillies that prevailed in one of their two elimination divisions include Rod Allen’s Our Last Penny (Allen), Andrew Glassmeyer’s Franky Doyle (Pat Berry), Miss Timber Wolf (William Long), and Art Stafford and Art Stafford Jr.’s Just Pump It (Stafford Jr.).
Our Last Penny and Just Pump It are CR Commando-sired, while Franky Doyle is a daughter of Glidemaster and Miss Timber Wolf is Anders Bluestone-sired. Morning line odds were not available at the time of this writing.
The third leg of the early Pick 4 will feature the male trotters as Stuart Chambers, Bcjm Stables, Divine Horse Racing and Cinebrew Enterprises’ Wolfpack Russ (Corey Callahan) will look to extend his win streak after two straight elimination wins for trainer Nick Callahan. The Glidemaster gelding will start from the rail alongside another elimination winner in Stafford Jr. and Wyatt Starkey’s Navy Blue (Stafford Jr.), who is a son of Anders Bluestone and notched his first career win in his second career start on September 29.
Nanticoke Racing’s LGs Reed O Wen (Jim Morand) will attempt to overcome post seven and bounce back from a miscue in his September 29 division when he broke behind the gate but rallied to finish third. The Anders Bluestone gelding had won three straight prior to that for trainer Les Givens. Only he and Wolfpack Russ have as many wins in the field.
Post time nightly is 4:30 p.m. Live racing will continue on a Monday through Wednesday schedule until October 20.
(Harrington)