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| In Harness: Late Rally Lifts Its My Show To Little Brown Jug Victory |
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KEN WEINGARTNER
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USTA/Conrad Photo |
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It’s My Show and driver Scott Zeron won
Thursday’s $850,000 Jug final for
3-year-old pacers in 1:49.
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(Courtesy of USTA Media Relations)
Delaware, OH — It’s My Show stole the show at the 78th Little Brown Jug.
Sitting sixth with a quarter-mile to go, It’s My Show and driver Scott Zeron worked a third-over journey into a trip to the winner’s circle by rallying past Seven Colors in the stretch to win Thursday’s $850,000 Jug final for 3-year-old pacers in 1:49 before a crowd of more than 40,000 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in central Ohio.
Seven Colors was a neck behind It’s My Show at the finish. Ken Hanover was third and pacesetter Moment Is Here was fourth.
The win by It’s My Show capped a big two days for Zeron and trainer Linda Toscano, who teamed up to capture Wednesday’s Jugette for 3-year-old female pacers with Ucandoit Blue Chip. Zeron became the first driver since David Miller in 2011 to win the Jug and Jugette in the same year. Toscano joined Ron Burke and Brett Pelling as the only trainers to accomplish the feat in the past 25 years.
It’s My Show finished second in his Jug elimination, which was won by Cannibal, and started the final from post five. Elim winners Moment Is Here, Ken Hanover (who won his division in a stakes-record 1:48.4) and Cannibal lined up in posts one through three, respectively. Seven Colors, who was second to Ken Hanover earlier, left from post four.
In the final, Moment Is Here went to the front, with Ken Hanover and Thunder Hunter Joe, who started in the second tier’s post nine, dropping in behind. Cannibal was left a parked-out second, where he remained as Moment Is Here hit the opening quarter in :25.4 and half in :53.3.
Seven Colors moved to the outside from fourth approaching the half and It’s My Show followed from sixth. Moment Is Here remained in the lead at three-quarters, reached in 1:22, but at that point Seven Colors was moving three-wide around Cannibal and It’s My Show was right behind.
Exiting the last turn, Seven Colors was in front, but It’s My Show sprinted home in :26.2, one-fifth of a second faster than the leader, to get the win.
“When you add in a trailer, it changes everything about a race,” Zeron said. “(Yannick Gingras with Cannibal) timed the gate great going out of there, and that made it easy for me to not try to leave. Honestly, I’ve been in the position he was in, which is when you commit to the lead but there’s no give-and-go, your two-hole goes by pretty quick. When (Ken Hanover) closed up the hole, it was tough for him.
“They were going at it (up front) but I was still way out of it. I needed a lot of things to go right, and Seven Colors raced sensational. My guy just put his nose out.”
The triumph was Zeron’s second in the Little Brown Jug. He was victorious with Michael’s Power in 2012 at the age of 23 to become the youngest driver to win the race.
Thursday’s victory was Toscano’s first in the Little Brown Jug.
“This is a pretty good week,” an emotional Toscano said. “This has been a race that’s eluded me, and a race that I’ve wanted for so long. I’m a little choked up.”
Richard Young and Joanne Young, who bred and own the son of Sweet Lou-Put On A Show, also captured their first Jug.
“I’m still jumping up and down,” Joanne Young posted on Facebook soon after the race. “So happy for Linda, Scott and team! Wow, just wow!”
It’s My Show, who was winless in eight starts at age 2, has won nine of 13 races this year and earned $1.06 million. His victories include the North America Cup and a world-record 1:46.4 mile for a 3-year-old gelding in a preliminary round of the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series.
“This horse has had some amazing races for us,” Zeron said.
Sent off at odds of 7-1, It’s My Show paid $16 to win.
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