There aren’t many people in this world who have had a better view of the Little Brown Jug than Roger Huston. In advance of this month’s 69th edition of the race, TROT asked the Hall of Fame racecaller to choose his favourite moments from the past five decades.
By Hannah Beckett
Some say Life Sign in 1993 was the greatest Jug of all time. Others beg to differ, citing Nihilator back in 1985. “The Voice” respectfully disagrees.
Roger Huston’s memorable calls are a staple of the Little Brown Jug and have been since 1968. When fans hear his voice ring out over the Delaware oval, they know they are part of something special.
Jug Day is a special day in every racing calendar, the date when 50,000 people flock to Delaware, Ohio to see some of the sports best, in a unique racing event. With a seating capacity of 18,000, the remaining 32,000 fill the tarmac and surround the track to get a peek at the racing action.
“One year, a man brought a ladder to let people get up on the barn roofs. He charged them five dollars to use his ladder to get down,” recalls Roger.
Some announcers underestimate their unique perspective on racing but Huston does not. Having seen many special racing moments over the years, Huston has many incredible stories to tell. In anticipation of the Little Brown Jug on September 18, he shared his favourite Jug moments with TROT.
Nansemond, 1971
The year Nansemond and Herve Filion took on the great Albatross sits prominently in Huston’s mind. He considers it to be the greatest Jug thus far, for reasons beyond the race itself.
“Herve did not have the fan base going into the first race as he did when it came time for the final heat. He totally won the crowd over that day; things like that make a great race. Albatross came into the race as the dominant three year old in 1971, coming into the race off a start in Michigan.”
Prior to the big day, comments by Stanley Dancer were made to the media that ultimately came back to haunt him. Saying something to the effect that he would only have to jog around the track to win the Little Brown Jug, racing fans were not impressed with his boisterous attitude.
“Someone made copies of that newspaper article and planted them everywhere around Delaware. That certainly started the Herve Filion bandwagon, so to speak. The first division was won in 1:58.3, the second in 1:58.1 by Albatross. In the second heat, Nansemond beat Albatross in a thrilling stretch battle, the fastest mile of the day in 1:57.2.”
“In the race-off, Herve cut it out with Dancer in the two hole. Fractions were nothing, 31.2, 1:03.2, three quarters in 1:36.2 and the sprint home in 28 seconds. Albatross could not catch up with Nansemond who won it by half a length. The crowd went crazy; Herve won the race and the crowd that day. A number of people were booing Dancer in post parade for the third heat! The tables turned on him,” said Huston with a laugh.
“Dancer was so upset, he didn’t come back to Delaware until he was sure he had a winner, which he did a few years later with Keystone Ore. A lot of things go into a great horse race that aren’t necessarily about the actual race itself; to me, it goes down as the greatest Jug ever.”
Governor Skipper, 1977
“It wasn’t so much the race itself with Governor Skipper, but the preliminary that took place before the Jug. He was expected to win it, as the dominant three-year-old that year. Johnny Chapman drove, Bucky Norris trained the colt.”
“When the caretaker went to the barn to give Governor Skipper his breakfast, they found a two inch wood splinter in his gum. It was very painful for the horse, he’d been chewing on the wood of the stall and got the splinter during the night. They removed it but they couldn’t treat the horse because of the testing and the Jug that afternoon.”
Deciding that the show must go on, Norris took action.
“They changed his bit to a rubber bit, to put less pressure on the gum where the injury occurred. He went out and totally dominated in 1:56.1 and 1:56.2. The fact that he had that splinter in his gum and managed to pull it off made it a memorable Jug for me.”
Known to take a few drinks, in the winner’s circle Governor Skipper’s trainer was beside himself after the win. After a challenging and worrisome morning, the sense of relief must have been overwhelming.
“Bucky Norris, he was a great guy. In the winner’s circle, he was bawling his eyes out; he couldn’t even talk that day. I don’t know whether or not he had had a few or it was sheer emotion, but it was the biggest win he’d ever had in his racing career.”
Hot Hitter, 1979
“It wasn’t the first time he did it, but when Hot Hitter and Herve won, he came back standing in the sulky. I saw Herve at the Harrisburg sale in November after the Jug and he had a broken arm. I asked him how he did it. He said he was standing in the bike, practicing with a two year old and fell off. That wasn’t true, but that’s what he told me at the time.”
Though he had stood in the sulky before at the Prix D’Ete and in the Adios, Herve made history of his own that day in Delaware.
“That moment, coming back in front of the stands, much like a chariot driver, was probably one of the greatest moments in a lot of people’s lives. They had never seen a driver do that before. Fans remember those little things that are totally out of the ordinary. Herve himself, he was out of the ordinary. He was quite a showman.”
“It was a shining moment in Jug history when he came back standing in the sulky in Delaware. 41,000 people saw it and were in awe.”
Most Happy Fella, 1970
Not every Jug anecdote involves a World Champion, or even the winner of the Jug. In 1970, the talk of the track was Columbia George and Roland Beaulieu.
“Stanley Dancer was in again with the favourite, Most Happy Fella. Most Happy Fella had the rail, and Columbia George was in the second tier. Roland (Beaulieu) knew he couldn’t beat Most Happy Fella in the first heat. The Jug that year was just one division, eleven horses, with the first heat somewhere around 3:00 p.m. The real story started around nine that morning.”
“Roland knew if he was going to win the Jug, he would have to do it in a third heat. He basically saw no way he could win the first heat from the second tier and would need a good post position to be competitive. Dancer won the first heat in 1:57.1, Columbia George finished third. Roland, who knew he needed three heats, going off at 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., brought the horse to the racetrack that morning at 9 to jog.”
Beaulieu certainly deviated from what many would consider a normal routine that day. Jogging Columbia George a mile and a half, he returned to the track at 10:30 to jog another two or three miles. Still not over, he hit the track again at 1:00 and went a trip with the colt. Two hours prior to the first heat, Columbia George had already seen the track three times. This created quite a buzz around the track, with racing fans excitedly passing on the news about this anomaly.
At this point, Huston is in disbelief as he recalls the tale. Beaulieu knew his horse would see the track six times in one day with this preparation, yet it nearly paid off.
“First heat, he finished third to Most Happy Fella but won the second in 1:57.3. Four of the eleven horses scratched from the third heat, leaving a field of seven. Columbia George had the rail with Most Happy Fella to his outside in the two. There was a surprise as they left out in the form of Leander Lobell from post four.”
“Columbia George grabbed rail control, with Most Happy Fella right behind him. Leander Lobell got hung to the quarter. They stayed that way to the half, with Columbia George on the lead, continuing to hang out Leander Lobell and consequently locking in Most Happy Fella. They stayed that way to the three quarters as well. Most Happy Fella was buried alive.”
“If Roland hadn’t asked more of the horse, he would have won the Little Brown Jug,” Huston believes. “Why would you drive on when you have a guy sitting on the outside that can’t beat you, locking the one you have to beat in on the rail? He showed Columbia George the whip, maybe he thought they could outsprint Most Happy Fella coming home? But this gave Most Happy Fella the clearance he needed and he won the Little Brown Jug.”
Astreos, 2000
The quips between Huston and Charalambos Christoforou in the post-race interview are fond memories from the Jug fourteen years ago. As Christoforou Jr. recalls it with a laugh, “My Dad says to Roger in the winner’s circle, ‘Look at all those nice rings; better not shake my hand or you’ll be missing a few.’” But what Huston recalls more vividly was what the younger Christoforou made happen on the racetrack.
“Astreos won the first time out in 1:54.4, followed by Gallo Blue Chip winning the second in 1:51.4 with Dan Dube. That’s the biggest differential I’ve ever had in divisions. Dube made a questionable choice in his drive in the second heat, possibly costing himself and Gallo Blue Chip the Jug.”
“Chris went to the top with Astreos. Dube went after him from the get go and was hung to the quarter. Dube could have easily backed off, it was evident Chris wanted the front and was going to cut it out. Dube could have backed off a lot sooner, but he forced an opening quarter in :26.2 seconds, the fastest first quarter in a second heat at Delaware at the time. To the half in :54, the three quarters in 1:22.3, and the two are done. George Scooter comes by at 56-1 and forces a race-off.”
As Huston recounts this, he works at a kind way to express his views on Dube’s drive that day. Ultimately he succeeds, but not without some careful consideration.
“If Gallo Blue Chip had taken an easier trip, he might have won it. The horse went on to be one of the most famous horses in all of harness racing over the length of his career. Instead, Chris wins it with Astreos, rather easily and in a third heat!”
“Christoforou Sr. sent me a duplicate of Astreos’ trophy; I was literally shocked because I wasn’t expecting it or anything. Three weeks after the race, I get this Jug with the plaque and everything. I appreciate Chris and his Dad so much for thinking of me and sending it on.”
Seatrain, 1975
“Early in Jug history, there were 19 horses in the Jug, with two divisions. Hank Thompson, who founded the Jug back in the 1940s, came to me the morning of the draw in 1975. He says to me, ‘How many horses are in the jug?’ and I told him 19. He only had 18 on his list and asked me who the 19th was. When I looked it over, I told him that he missed Seatrain. He said, ‘Who?’”
Thompson had never heard of the horse, just like everyone else at the Jug that year. Trained by Lee Benson with Benny Webster in the bike, Seatrain was a unique contender.
“He was a beautiful horse with a white blaze on his face, but what was really out of the ordinary, was he was gelded. He was the first gelding to ever win the Little Brown Jug.”
“He won his division in 1:57 and then won the second heat in 1:59.4. Seatrain went down in history that day. Not even Hank Thompson knew who the horse was on the day of the entries but the 29,000 people in the crowd sure knew who he was after the race was over.”
Goalie Jeff, 1989
“One of the owners in the Center Ice Stable came up to me at the victory party after the races in a local hotel in Delaware, in front of a number of people, telling me ‘Roger, I want to thank you’. I asked him what for, and he said ‘for winning the Little Brown Jug with Goalie Jeff, your call won the race.’”
“At Delaware, I have the best seat in the house in the judges’ stand. As an announcer, you want to be right on the action as it’s happening. Winning his division, Mike Lachance was in the colt’s bike for the day. He had cover past the half in the final, sitting maybe fifth or sixth. As they went around the turn and started to straighten out in front of the paddock, I could see Lachance start to tip a little.”
“I thought he would go three wide, so anticipating what Lachance was going to do, I said something to the effect ‘and Mike Lachance better get three wide and move NOW!’ and that’s exactly what he was doing. It sounded like I was telling Lachance to do it, but he was already moving it six inches. I made the call before he really did it and this gentleman congratulated me, thanking me for telling his driver what to do.”
This year the Little Brown Jug will receive a substantial purse increase, pushing the purse to over $600,000. The 2014 edition promises to be a day of racing that will keep fans on the edge of their seats with eligibles like Hes Watching and McWicked among a group of strong contenders. Listen closely; you may bear witness to another unique race call that will be recounted for many years to come. It’s Jug Day, and heeeere they come!
