Page 2 - Greg Wright Jr News Today

It’s not unusual for music to be part of an athlete’s daily training routine. Even when the athlete is a horse. In this case, the 2021 U.S. Trotter of the Year, Jujubee.

The Omni Bedford Springs Resort, in the southwestern Pennsylvania city of Bedford, hosted the annual Pennsylvania Fair Awards banquet on Saturday (Jan. 22).

Jon Erdner has been involved in harness racing for some four decades, and bred horses for nearly as long, but never enjoyed a year like he did in 2021 with Dan Patch Award-winning trotter Jujubee.

There were question marks surrounding Jujubee after his win streak was snapped in his Breeders Crown elimination, but the sophomore trotter rewarded the faith of his connections with a determined victory in the $650,000 Breeders Crown Final for three-year-old male trotters on Saturday (Oct. 30) at The Meadowlands.

Jujubee and Whiskey Blu, old rivals from a spring late-closer event, showed how well they’ve developed Friday at The Meadows, as each captured a division of the Super Bowl, a $147,706 Pennsylvania Sires Stake that wraps up the four preliminary legs in the series for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters. With two wins and as many seconds, Jujubee cemented a berth in the $250,000 championship while Whiskey Blu’s two victories likely will earn him a slot. All four finals for sophomores are...

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...

Filly Speaks alert move out of the pocket down the backside after a slow first half carried her to victory — and a series sweep — in Wednesday’s (April 21) $22,250 final of the Ruby Cook Memorial Pace for three-year-old fillies at The Meadows. After Oceans Apart waltzed through the front half in :58.1 over a “good” surface, Tony Hall decided to vacate the two-hole earlier than usual. “I was kind of concerned about the slow numbers,” Hall said. “I wanted to trip her out today bec...