Half of a field of eight top three-year-old pacers have strong Delaware connections in the top purse event of the week, the $100,000 Battle of the Brandywine that shifts to Northeast Pennsylvania on Saturday night where The Downs at Mohegan Sun is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the harness racing meeting at Pocono Downs, near Wilkes Barre.
Two of the starters – Wiggle It Jiggleit and Wakazashi Hanover are both trained at Harrington Raceway by Clyde Francis and JoAnn King, respectively.
The others are Yankee Bounty is co-owned by Harrington entrepreneur Frank Chick and Dude's The Man is owned by M&L Of Delaware and Victoria Dickenson of Greenville, near Wilmington.
As last week, in the $400,000-added Milstein Memorial at Northfield Park, near Cleveland, Wiggle It Jiggleit has drawn an inside post position while his major rival Wakizashi Hanover has drawn an outside post, number 7.
With that win, George Teague Inc.'s Wiggle It Jiggleit and driver Montrell Teague moved to more than $1.1 million in purse earnings
iggle It Jiggleit, will start from post 1 alongside Adios Pace winner Dude's The Man, driven by Corey Callahan, Dover Downs reigning driving champion.
Meanwhile Yankee Bounty, leaves from post 6.
Driver Callahan will be busy during the card.
He also guides Bettor Be Steppin, bred by Seaford, Del. auto magnate Fred Hertrich, and conditioned by University of Delaware-grad, Joe Holloway, in the $350,000 Valley Forge for three-year-old filly pacers.
They won Pocono's James Lynch Memorial earlier this summer
Callahan will also pilot Suit And Tie, also bred by Fred Hertrich, in the $500,000 Colonial Trot meeting Pinkman, the recent $1.2-million Hambletonian champion.
That victory propelled Pinkman to the top spot in the weekly top 10 poll, displacing Wiggle It Jiggleit, for first place.
JL Cruze, co-owned by longtime Dover Downs horseman Ken Wood, ranked third in this week's top 10 poll, marks his first start in a month racing in the $100,000 Sebastian K Trot.
Smyrna horseman Daryl Bier will send Wind Of The North against him.
Bier also will start Bandolito, the Dover Downs Horse of the Meet, in the $50,000 USTA Invitational pace.
Totally Rusty, a Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund Champion, makes his first start since being sold by Wilmington breeder-owner Al "Rusty" Carter's Carter Racing Stable, in the $350,0009 Valley Forge three-year-old filly pace.
Completing a giant week on Sunday, Frank Deliberti's The Wiz Kids Stable of Dover, runner-up earlier this month in the Lady Liberty Final at the Meadowlands, is a contender in the $194,000 Artiscape at Vernon Downs,in upstate New York.
Also entered is Lady Shadow, bred and owned by Winbak Farm.
Marv Bakchrad