Four $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) finals for Delaware’s top three-year-olds will headline Harrington Raceway’s annual Governor’s Night program Thursday at the Delaware State Fair.
First-race post time is 7:00 p.m.
Also on the program are staples for older horses, the $40,000 Governor’s Cup, $30,000 Legislator’s Cup and $30,000 Charles Murphy Memorial, as well as three $20,000 DSBF consolation events.
The first DSBF final is the evening’s first race, as eight pacing fillies will head postward. The field is one of the most competitive to date in DSBF history, as five different horses in the field won an elimination, not including Dianne and Joel Halpern’s Bags Of Stars (4-1, Ron Pierce), who won the $100,000 final in April at Dover Downs for trainer Ben Stafford. Elimination winners in the field include Crissy Crissman Bier and Su-Mar Racing’s Women Rule (5-1, Sean Bier), Scott Woogen’s KJs Caroline (3-1, John Wagner), Garnett O’Marrow’s Sebomook Boo Yah (6-1, Allan Davis), Daryl Bier and Charlie Dombeck’s Inittowinafortune (7-2, Tony Morgan), and Ron Davis’ Grace Of An Angel (8-1, George Dennis). Inittowinafortune will be making her first start for new trainer Charlene Sharpe.
The filly trotters will be the next DSBF final to be contested (Race 5) in the Jack Walls Memorial. Onery Inc.’s Podium (2-1, Dylan Davis) and William Moffett’s Country Romance (7-2, Allan Davis) have been standouts among the group so far.
The Hal Belote Memorial for DSBF colt and gelding trotters is slated ninth on the card. Richard Lombardo’s Triple Command (2-1, Ross Wolfenden) and Art Stafford and Art Stafford Jr.’s Royal Briefing (7-2, Stafford Jr.) have been installed as the two favourites, starting from the two inside posts.
Rodney Long and Tim and Joe Hundertpfund’s Hot Roddy will look to keep his near-perfect record intact in the Jim Case Memorial for three-year-old DSBF colt and gelding pacers (Race 11). Trained by Joe Hundertpfund, the Roddys Bags Again colt has won 11 of 13 starts lifetime and recently completed a sweep of his eliminations at Harrington. His batch of rivals won’t be easily dismissed, though, as Only Money and Halpern Stable’s Bags Of Money, who also swept his eliminations, drew the rail and will be driven by Hall of Famer Ron Pierce.
Wiz Kids Stable’s Golden Gun (4-1, Montrell Teague) and David Hamm’s By A Time (3-1, Eric Goodell) also won eliminations and are among a deep field.
The feature for pacing horses four years old and up is the $40,000 Governor’s Cup (Race 2), headed by Andrew Glassmeyer’s Fancyfreeshark (2-1, Jon Roberts) and Peter Tritton’s Malak Uswaad N (5-2, Tim Tetrick) who are among a speedy field of eight that has combined earnings of more than $2.2 million.
Delaware Governor Jack Markell will be on hand to present the trophy to the winning connections.
The Legislator’s Cup (Race 3) for mare pacers will follow, and features defending champion Monochromatic (5-2, Corey Callahan) for the North State Street Stables. She has banked more than $130,000 in 2013 and is easily the leading money earner in the field.
The feature for aged trotters is the $30,000 Charles Murphy Memorial. An evenly-matched group will battle that includes David Neilson’s Gurf (5-2, Allan Davis), Barbara Boese’s Awsome Valley (3-1, Tony Morgan), Daniel Poliseno’s Man About Town (4-1, Carlo Poliseno) and Lauren Allen’s Photo Maxx (5-1, Victor Kirby) among others.
(Harrington Raceway)