DELAWARE, Ohio — A terrific 2018 harness-racing season could get even better for Canadian Brad Grant.
The trucking magnate from Milton, Ont., watched his filly, Atlanta, win the Hambletonian on Aug. 4. Three hours earlier, his colt, Stay Hungry, captured the Cane Pace, the first jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown.
Stay Hungry added the second jewel by winning the Messenger Stakes on Sept. 1. He'll go for the sweep Thursday in the US$642,000 Little Brown Jug for three-year-old pacers at the Delaware County Fair.
"It's exciting," said Grant, who owns Stay Hungry with the Irwin Samelman Estate. "It's great to be in it.
"There is going to be some hard racing (Thursday). There are a lot of good ones in there. I'm not convinced there is one horse that’s an outstanding favourite; there are a number of horses that could step up and win. I just hope that we're there."
Capturing the Triple Crown won't be easy. Thirteen horses are entered the Little Brown Jug so there will be two elimination races Thursday to determine the field for the same-day final.
The top-four finishers from each elimination will advance to the final. Among the horses joining Stay Hungry are North America Cup champion Lather Up, Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice, and Adios winner Dorsoduro Hanover.
Only 10 horses have captured the Pacing Triple Crown with No Pan Intended being the last in 2003. The 15-year drought is also the longest in the series' history.
Stay Hungry, the '17 O'Brien Award winner as Canada's top two-year-old male pacer, has won five-of-11 races this year and three of his past four. The son of Somebeachsomewhere has 11 career wins from 20 starts and earned $1.18 million.
His top victory last season came in the Breeders Crown final.
In the Cane Pace, Stay Hungry rallied from ninth with a quarter-mile to go to win in a stakes-record-tying time of 1:47.3. The colt finished third in the Messenger Stakes elimination but won the final by a neck over Jimmy Freight in 1:52.1.
"There are a lot of things that have happened this year that weren't in the back of my mind when the year got started," Grant said. "We believed this colt was going to be the colt he is.
"But thinking about the Triple Crown, I hadn't given it a thought until someone mentioned it after the Cane. To win that one, it was a great race."
Grant will be making his third trip to the Little Brown Jug, with the previous two coming with horses owned by his family. In 2001, Bettor’s Delight won the Little Brown Jug for Grant’s father, John, a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. In 2010, the year after John Grant's death, Classic Rock Nroll won an elimination and finished fifth in the final under the ownership of Grant’s mother, Kay.
"I'm looking forward to going to the Jug," Grant said. “It's nice to be going into it with a horse that can compete and contend.
"From there, you just hope for the best. I just hope the colt races well."
Grant is one of harness racing's most successful owners, leading the Woodbine Mohawk circuit in wins since 2016. In addition to co-owning Atlanta, Grant's horses include another Jug starter in Babes Dig Me, Dr J Hanover, Witch Dali, and unbeaten two-year-old Captain Ahab.
"Honestly, winning the Hambo was on my bucket list, but it was on my bucket list for maybe five or six years from now," Grant said. "(Trainer Rick Zeron of Oakville, Ont.) and his team did a great job to get (Atlanta) where she was and race her in the Hambletonian.
"That's my surprise of the year and I like surprises, believe me. This is a run I'm enjoying. You just don't want it to end."
The Canadian Press