Local Fairs Feature Some of Standardbred Racing's Grand Circuit Winners

With New York and neighboring New Jersey being the center of American Standardbred (harness horse) racing, what options are available to those who don't reside in the eastern hub for catching a glimpse of the great pacers and trotters of the Grand Circuit?

What Is the Grand Circuit?

Harness racing's Grand Circuit is comprised of annual championship racing competition for two- and three-year-old equines in one mile trot and pace at 20 national sites. Standardbred racing's Grand Circuit was first thought of in 1871, when harness racing was fast becoming America's favorite pastime.

The site of the first discussions of organizing an annual circuit tour for Standardbreds was Cleveland, Ohio, where racing supporters and horsemen William Edwards, Lewis J. Powers, and E.A. Buck met.

By 1873, four tracks offering winning purses totaling $163,000 each were established as the Grand Circuit's sites.

Today's Fairgrounds Racing -- Little Brown Jug

Today, many of the nation's fairgrounds have become permanent Grand Circuit Standardbred racing attractions where the average fair-goer may see a race in the career of a famous harness horse and bet on his favorites. The most well-known pacer of all time, Dan Patch, thrilled his fans in this manner after Marion W. Savage purchased him and took him cross-country by private railroad cars to race at fairgrounds against competitors, or against his own previous record time.

The Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio, site of pacing's premier event and Triple Crown Jewel the Little Brown Jug, holds the record for attendance in Standardbred racing. In 1997, on September 18th, a crowd of 56,129 supported the 52nd edition of the Jug, won by Western Dreamer.

Local fairgrounds in Northwestern Ohio that sanction Standardbred racing under the Northwestern Ohio Colt Racing Association "Circuit of Champions" include the annual fairs held at Wauseon during Labor Day Weekend on the Fulton County fairgrounds, at Napoleon on the Henry County fairgrounds track, and at Hicksville on the oval at Defiance County fairgrounds. In all, Ohio sponsors 69 fairs that feature harness racing.

Locals Go to the Little Brown Jug

Some Wauseon-Napoleon-Defiance locals travel to the big show in Delaware. Offspring of Nobleland Sam, Won More Sam and Snow Storm Sam, from local stables, competed in races of the Jug's 2008 and 2009 undercards. Yankee Cruiser son Boozer Cruiser and Jailhouse Jesse's famous mare Buck I St Pat have done the smaller fairs circuit prior to shipping to Delaware.

In addition, the Corn City of Deshler, Henry County, Ohio is home to Ohio Harness Race Hall of Fame trainer Ivan Sugg, who trained No Pan Intended, the only Standardbred in history to win the Pacing Triple Crown and his divisional Breeders Crown championship in the same year (2003).

The office of the Grand Circuit is located at 750 Michigan Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43215.

Resources: The Trotting & Pacing Guide, 2009 Edition, compiled and edited by John Pawlak, The United States Trotting Association; The Complete Book of Harness Racing, by Philip A. Pines, Grosset & Dunlap, NY, 1970; 2008 and 2009 Official Race Program of the Little Brown Jug and author's attendance