The quartet of Perfect Sting, Lou’s Pearlman, Whichwaytothebeach and American Courage lead a balanced field of 13 for the $661,800 Little Brown Jug, presented by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, to be held Thursday at the Delaware County Fair.
Perfect Sting, winner of $1,185,933, heads the second elimination. The ultra-consistent son of Always B Miki was undefeated at two and has hit the board in all 10 of his 2021 starts.
He has picked up second-place finishes in several three-year-old classics: the $790,000 North America Cup, $700,000 Meadowlands Pace, $300,000 Max Hempt Memorial and the $276,150 Cane Pace.
Perfect Sting is owned by his breeders Brittany Farms and Val D’Or Farms and is conditioned by Joe Holloway.
He will be driven by David Miller and will leave from the outside post No. 6.
American Courage (Matt Kakaley) will have post No. 2 in the same elimination.
The son of American Ideal was originally not eligible for the 76th pacing classic, but became eligible for a $45,000 supplemental fee as a result of his victory in the $500,000 Messenger Stakes.
He has earned a total of $532,504 for the Fiddler Creek Stable. Travis Alexander, who won back-to-back Jugette titles with Just Wait Kate (2005) and Eternity’s Delight (2006), is making his first training start in the Little Brown Jug.
The $253,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion, Lou’s Pearlman (Yannick Gingras) is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the first elimination.
The homebred son of Sweet Lou has earned $444,606 for the Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Elizabeth Novak and Howard Taylor. The two-time LBJ training champ, Ron Burke trains.
Whichwaytothebeach is the 3-1 second choice.
The Somebeachsomewhere gelding has hit-the-board in 19 of his 20 career starts and has amassed $420,943 for his owners Alan Johnston and John Craig. The three-time Jug champion Brett Pelling trains Whichwaytothebeach.
The 20-race Jug Day card is set with a Noon post time.
