Dec 21, 2021 3 min read

Jujubee, winner of the Kentucky Futurity and Breeders Crown championships this fall, has been voted the top 3-year-old colt trotter of the year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Supplemented into both races by owner Jon Erdner, Jujubee – stabled at The Meadows and trained by Greg Wright Jr. – rolled in the finals of both of Standardbred racing’s most prestigious races.

Jujubee was the top money-earning male trotter this year, with $948,791. He won 14 times in 2021 and finished no worse than second in 17 of 18 races. In addition to his Breeders Crown ($650,000) and Kentucky Futurity ($561,000) victories, Jujubee won the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final ($253,000) and Phil Langley Memorial.

The colt captured the Kentucky Futurity, the third leg of trotting’s Triple Crown, in 1:49.3 and the Muscle Hill Trot in 1:49.4 to become the first 3-year-old male trotter with two sub-1:50 winning miles.

Jujubee is the first Meadows-stabled horse to win the Kentucky Futurity.

Jujubee was driven by Andrew McCarthy and Tony Hall. McCarthy drove him to victory in the Kentucky Futurity, at Lexington’s Red Mile and Breeders Crown at Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J. The son of Creatine out of La Cantera was bred by owner and breeder Jon Erdner.

Erdner and Wright became so confident in the horse, who lost only the Breeders crown elimination race in the second half of the year, that Erdner supplemented Jujubee into the Kentucky Futurity for $75,000 and into the Breeders Crown for $62,500. Jujubee was not Hambletonian eligible, and the race does not allow supplemental entries.

The honor puts Jujubee in contention to be named to the highest-ranking awards in the sport.

Pacer of the Year, Trotter of the Year, and Horse of the Year will be revealed at the Dan Patch Awards banquet Feb. 20 at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla.

“It’s well-deserved (3-year-old colt trotter award) for the work he put into it,” said Wright, a long-time trainer at The Meadows.

“It’s a possibility (as for winning the top awards). You never know. At the beginning of the year, we knew he was a good horse. I was worried about his longevity for the year. We never trained him overly hard. He’s such a natural. I just wanted to make sure he was in good shape. My job was not to screw him up.”

Erdner said “it is certainly great to see (Jujubee) get recognized.

“He was good all year; he really came on at the end of summer and in the fall,” Erdner added. “He put on a good show for all of us.”

Erdner said it would be something if Jujubee won the top awards.

“That’s once in a lifetime,” he added.