Page 2 - Dirk Simpson News Today

Calliope Hanover sustained a first-over move that carried her to victory in Thursday’s feature at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, an $11,800 filly & mare conditioned pace.

Inside Express had to battle four-wide before reaching the top, but it didn’t bother her a bit as she rolled to her fourth straight victory in the opening leg of the Margaret Provost Memorial on Thursday (April 13) at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.

Good Investment controlled the fractions but had to dig deep to hold off the late challenge of Slipmeamiki in order to capture the $18,200 championship of the Wilbur Zendt Memorial for three- and four-year-old pacing colts, horses and geldings.

With the scheduled date of the 2022 Pepsi North America Cup less than two months away, Trot Insider will profile some of the race's top contenders as horses ready to compete for one of Canadian harness racing's biggest prizes.

Stonebridge Helios was a horse that John Pentland never expected to train. Fast forward less than a year, and he's now a horse that the longtime conditioner eagerly anticipated returning to his stable.

Professional, easy-going, strong, willing — trainers Nick Gallucci and John Pentland called on similar adjectives Friday night to describe their two-year-old pacing colt Gold Series winners Betterhavemymoney and Stonebridge Helios. The pacers took very different trips around the Woodbine Mohawk Park oval to get to the winner’s circle, but they tripped the teletimer in identical 1:51.4 clockings and both looked impressive in the effort. Starting from Post 6 in the first $103,800 division, B...

Jujubee made a shambles of the field Wednesday (May 5) at The Meadows, drawing off to win the feature, a $10,100 Conditioned Trot, by four lengths for his seventh victory in 11 starts. Jujubee entered the race off a win in the championship of a late-closing series and was hammered down to 3-5 as a result. The three-year-old son of Creatine-La Cantera lived to the billing, moving to the point before the half for Tony Hall and scoring in a career-best 1:54.2 over a “good” surface. Early-leade...

She had to overcome 23-1 odds and finesse her way around a breaking horse, but Best Derby Native was up to the task, notching her second straight series win — and third consecutive victory overall — in Wednesday’s (March 10) Donna Dunn Memorial Pace at The Meadows. Filly Speaks captured the other $10,000 second-leg split in the event for three- and four-year-old pacing fillies and mares. The $15,000-added series final is set for next Wednesday (March 17). Best Derby Native was enjoying a ...

Chris Gooden Photo Trenton, NJ — It all started as a joke. After it turned serious, harness racing John “The Greek” Sikaras is still sporting one of the biggest grins in western Pennsylvania. As well he should. Sikaras recorded his first driving win Nov. 27 in an $8,500 Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association event at The Meadows. The fact his horse, Explosive Leggs, went off at 23-1 is pretty neat in its own right. Throw in the fact that Sikaras turned 70 on June 12, and you’ve got a ...