Although a lot will be different on Monday, June 15 when Harrington Raceway opens without spectators for its 74th season of live harness racing, some things will remain familiar.
Most notably perhaps is the return of 2019 Delaware Valley USHWA Harrington Raceway horse of the meet Slick Tony (7/2, Russell Foster), who is slated to make his first start since March 5 in the featured $10,000 Open Pace, which has been carded as a the fifth race on the nine-dash card. Owned by his breeder/trainer, George Leager, the five-year-old son of No Spin Zone is a graduate of the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund program, which jump-started his $670,043 in career earnings. A 16-time winner last year, Slick Tony banked $231,449 as a four-year-old, and despite the COVID-19-related disruption to racing, he remains on track for another $100,000 season. Slick Tony will face a quality field of eight, which is the anchor leg of the early Pick 4 wager (races 2-5).
Another regular sighting will be the return of last year’s driving champ, Art Stafford Jr., who had a career year in 2019 and is scheduled to be in the bike five times during the card. Two-time defending leading trainer Joe Columbo will have a busy night with five entries from his stable. All of the Columbo-trained entries will be driven by former track driving champ Mike Cole, who is part of a formidable driving colony opening the meet.
Tim Tetrick, who was recently voted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, will compete in all nine races on the opening card. Many of his drives will come from the uber powerful barn of Joanne and Jim King Jr., who trained the 2019 Dan Patch Horse of the Year, Shartin N.
Last year was a landmark season for Harrington-based horses, as the town with a population of less than 4,000 has become a hotbed for harness racing talent, courtesy of prior champions like Wiggle It Jiggleit, Rainbow Blue and Adios Harry, just to name a few. Its most recent success stories from 2019 are Lather Up, who raced out of the George Teague stable for trainer Clyde Francis stabled on the east side of Harrington. Lather Up is the co-fastest horse in the sport’s history with a 1:46 win at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The aforementioned Shartin N was not only the 2019 Horse of the Year in the United States, but is also the sport’s fastest mare ever. Not to be outdone was two-year-old pacing filly of the year Lyons Sentinel – who is also trained by the King Jr. barn, located on the west side of town.
Post time for the Monday program will be at 4:30 p.m.
Live racing will continue on a Monday through Wednesday schedule through July 15. There will be a break in the schedule before resuming on August 17.
(Harrington Raceway)