Aug 23, 2022 4 min read

Despite suffering the second defeat in nine career starts Saturday afternoon, expectations remain high for 3-year-old pacer and Adios champion Bythemissal.

Trainer Ron Burke confirmed that the Meadows-stable horse will be supplemented ($45,000) into the Little Brown Jug and into the Breeders Crown for $72,000.

The Little Brown Jug, which will be contested Sept. 22 in Delaware, Ohio; and the Breeders Crown, to be held Oct. 22 and 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada, are two of the biggest 3-year-old pacing races.

“We’re going to do it,” Burke said. “He raced great Saturday.”

Bythemissal finished second to Beach Glass in the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

The two have developed quite a rivalry. Beach Glass handed Bythemissal his first career loss in an Adios elimination last month. Bythemissal returned the favor in the Adios final. Beach Glass holds a 2-1 lead in head-to-head battles.

Bythemissal, the 1-5 favorite in the Hempt, started from post No. 3, moved fast off the gate but Beach Glass, which went off at 5-2, was able to keep Bythemissal outside en route to a :25.2 quarter.

Bythemissal, owned in part by the Burke Stable of Fredericktown and driven by Chris Page, came back for more first-over down the backstretch. He fell short by a half-length.

It was just the second defeat of the season for Bythemissal, winner of the Carl Milstein Memorial two weeks ago at Northfield, Ohio, in a track-record tying, and world-record tying 1:48.4, has won seven of nine career starts and finished second twice.

“They are a little above the others right now,” Burke said. “That can change. Yannick drove a smart race Saturday. He earned the win. But I wouldn’t trade my horse for any other.”

Burke said Bythemissal’s next race will be the $85,000 Veteran Championships at Scioto Downs.

Jujubee appears fit

Last year’s 3-year-old trotting Breeders Crown champion Jujubee has struggled to get on the racetrack in 2022 but qualified in an impressive way Monday morning at Red Mile Racetrack, Lexington, Ky., when he cruised to a 1:52.3 victory with driver Andy McCarthy for Meadows-based trainer Greg Wright Jr. and owner/breeder John Erdner.

“Everyone was happy,” Wright said. “He looked good.”

Wright said Jujubee might be qualified again before making his 2022 debut. The horse hasn’t been able to find his way to the track in his 4-year-old season as a variety of problems and issues haven’t allowed it to this point.

Wright said the horse is being geared for the $200,000 Charlie Hill Memorial Trot Sept. 10 at Eldorado Scioto Downs for 4-year-olds and up.

“He looks good and strong,” Wright said. “Everybody is happy and (Jujubee) came out of it OK. He’s a tough horse and there have been a lot of bumps in the road. We didn’t rush him back and we took our time with him.

“There’s still a lot left to the racing season.”

Fourever Boy

Another Meadows-stabled horse, 3-year-old pacer Fourever Boy, finished fourth in the Hempt Pace and that continues a trend where he’s a step or two behind the top horses in the class.

Tim Twaddle, trainer and part owner, said other owners wanted to switch drivers from Mike Wilder to Dexter Dunn – currently the top driver in the sport – for last weekend’s race.

“Dexter’s the best in the country,” Twaddle said. “Mike did a good job with him all year. The others wanted to see if Dexter could drive him to a higher level, wanted to see if there was a little more there.”

Twaddle said he thought the Hempt field was “on paper” the toughest race for Fourever Boy all year.

“It was a race when he never stopped digging,” Twaddle said. “I thought it was a good performance against some high-level competition.”

Fourever Boy is eligible for the Little Brown Jug and the Breeders Crown, among other races.

“We’ll take it week-to-week,” Twaddle said.

Brady’s Run

Local driver Brady Brown recently reached 1,000 career driving wins. Brown is second only to Dave Palone in number of drives – 1,003 to 980 – this year at The Meadows. He is starting to catch on at a higher level. This past week, he drove for several out-of-town trainers in stakes races at the local track. … Canonsburg resident Scott Betts does not receive nationwide headlines like Hall of Fame trainer Ron Burke. Burke is top in wins this year at The Meadows with 135. However, Betts is second with 73 and has a winning percentage of 29.7 percent. Most of his owners are Canonsburg-based. Scott is the son of the late Barry Betts, a longtime veterinarian at the track. His brother, Tim, owns most of the stable’s horses.