Nichols, NY –
Tioga Downs presents its biggest card of the season on Sunday, August 27 with
nine stakes Grand Circuit on the day carrying total purses of nearly $750,000.
Highlights include the $170,000 Crawford Farms Open Trot, $150,000
Joie De Vie Open Mare Trot and $158,000 Artiscape Open Mare Pace supported by
six divisions of the Reynolds stakes for 2-year-olds rounding out the program.
Ten of the finest trotters in the land are entered for the
Crawford Farms (race 8) with the combined earnings of the field in excess of
$12 million.
Resolve (PP #7) is the leading career money winner and arguably
the best trotter currently racing in North America for trainer/driver Ake
Svanstedt and owner Hans Enggren. A winner three times in eight seasonal
starts, Reslove's most recent effort was a convincing open length win in the
$303,000 Cashman Memorial on Hambletonian Day at The Meadowlands.
Marion Marauder (Scott Zeron) chased Resolve home on that occasion
and has drawn just to the outside of his chief rival on Sunday. He’s handling
the graduation to the veteran ranks nicely for trainer Paula Wellwood and
owners Marion Wellwood and Devin Keeling with wins in the Hambletonian Maturity
and Graduate final versus 4-year-old competition. Facing this deep and talented
group in only his second foray open competition is a arduous task for last
year’s Triple Crown champ.
The Joie De Vie (race 6) features last year’s dominant division
leader Hannelore Hanover (PP#5 Yannick Gingras) and her newest rival in Swedish
import Pasithea Face S (PP#2 Tim Tetrick). In the initial meeting Pasithea Face
vanquished her accomplished rival with a grueling first over move to win the Dr
John Steele Memorial on Hambo Day. Hannelore has not raced since while Pasithea
Face tuned up with an overall track record 1:50.4 at Tioga last week in a leg
of the Miss Versatility.
The Artiscape (race 7) pits Lady Liberty winner Pure Country (PP#5
Mark MacDonald) against Golden Girls winner Nike Franco N (PP#2 Tetrick) in
another field of six. Those two threw down for the final three eighths of a
mile in the Liberty with Nike Franco wrestling the lead away by a neck at the
stretch call before Pure Country rallied back to get the win.
The Reynolds stakes cover six races, two each for the trotting and
pacing colts and a single division of fillies for each gait.
It’s Corntastic weekend at Tioga Downs and post time on Sunday is
1:00 p.m.
Here are the fields for the three featured events:
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