Jug Preview a casualty of a jam-packed stakes schedule

Once a staple leading into the Little Brown Jug, the intended return of the Jug Preview at Scioto Downs was scrapped due to lack of entries caused by too much stakes competition in other jurisdictions.

by Brett Sturman

This past Saturday (Sept. 6), the formerly famed Jug Preview stakes at Scioto Downs was set to be contested for the first time since the year 2017, when it was won by Downbytheseaside. But despite best intentions, the race did not go forward due to too few entries, drawing senses of déjà vu from back in 2018.

For its part, purses and conditions offered for the Jug Preview appeared favorable. The race was listed as carrying an estimated purse of $225,000, which would have been substantially higher than any Jug Preview, ever. Additionally, the race conditions noted that should the winner of the race enter the Little Brown Jug, Eldorado Scioto Downs would pay $7,000 for the entry fee.

Despite the enticing conditions, it was confirmed for me by Scioto Downs racing secretary Jason Roth that only four horses had dropped in the box for the Jug Preview. Coincidentally, only four horses were entered for the race in 2018.

At that time, then GM of racing operations Stacy Cahill essentially swore off ever having the Jug Preview again when quoted in a Trot Insider article, “This will be the last year I write that race. Last year it was underwhelming and this year it didn’t fill.”

True to Cahill’s words, the race was never offered again until now.

Perhaps as the case was then, and most certainly as the case is now, the Jug Preview was severely hampered by its place in the stakes calendar. That’s because, in addition to the Jug Preview scheduled for Sept. 6, other competing major stakes featuring top race prospects included Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) finals, New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) finals and splits for the Simcoe Stakes all on that same date. Friday of the same weekend also featured New Jersey Classic finals at The Meadowlands as well as Hoosier Cup eliminations at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. For good measure, Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) legs, which seem perpetual these days at The Red Mile, were raced most recently on Sept. 2.

Of the 61 horses that remained nominated to the Jug Preview, Twisted Destiny, Go Go Grasshopper and Lou’s Starr raced Saturday at The Meadows in the $300,000 PASS final won by Louprint. As part of the NYSS Night of Champions at Batavia Downs on Saturday, the 1-2-3 finishers of Dandy Ideal, Courts On Fire, and Thirsty Thursday in the $300,000 final for 3-year-old colt pacers were all nominated for the Jug Preview, too. Also, Jug Preview-nominated Ayeaye Captain Deo won his Simcoe split at Woodbine Mohawk as the 4-5 favorite.

Want more examples? On Friday at The Meadowlands, the first and third-place finishers in the $250,000 New Jersey Classic final, those being Papis Pistol and Manolete, were Jug Preview eligible as well.

You could look at its placement on the schedule and say that the race should have been on another date, but if not this past Saturday, then when? Once-prominent stakes all over have been filled this year with less – and in some cases – a record number of small entrants, so it’s difficult to say that the date for the racing alone was a breaking point. There’s rarely an opening in the stakes calendar this time of year and the reality is that an oversaturation of stakes races – including sire stake races taking a far more prominent role than before – are stressing races that had been strong in the past.

With the race having not been filled and/or offered since 2017 – and having not been run for a decade prior to that – it marks just one time in nearly the last 20 years that the Jug Preview had been run. It begs the question if the race, overloaded with famed winners throughout its history, has now formally run its course. Roth doesn’t seem as fast to throw in the towel on the race as done so prior.

“For this particular instance with the Jug Preview – this is partially my fault,” said Roth. “It’s always a hard race to schedule just because you want to have it right before the Little Brown Jug, and I also wanted to have it on my big night to go with the Charlie Hill Memorial and the Jim Ewart Memorial. But I think going forward I’m probably just going to schedule it on Thursday night set seven days right before the Jug. That would also at least give some break away from the New York Sire Stakes and the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes finals and those types of races.”

Roth is keenly aware of the threat that a likely overpopulated stakes schedule has across the board.

“I’m part of a coalition that’s been put together to aid in the scheduling of the top Grand Circuit races,” Roth said. “So, you have the Jug but then you also have the Kentucky Sire Stakes basically four days prior to the Jug, and how do we get these races off the Grade 1 stakes, let alone races like the Jug Preview. And that’s kind of the premise of our coalition. For example, back in the day with the Grand Circuit races you didn’t really have to worry nearly as much about the sire stakes races. Because sire stakes were basically like your ‘B’ horses and now they’re your ‘A’ horses – they are your Grand Circuit horses too. And now the sire stakes race for such good money that there’s not as much difference between the stakes.”

For the challenges faced this year with the Jug Preview, that may only be a small preview of what’s to come for Roth and team at Scioto Downs next year when they play host to one of the sport’s largest events.

“We’re going to run into scheduling again next year when we’re having the Breeders Crown,” said Roth. “It’s not going to be a situation like this [where a race doesn’t fill] but the issue starts with everything being pushed back by one week. What that means is that the Jug isn’t racing until September 24, and that then pushes The Red Mile back a week. We also don’t want to race the Breeders Crown right on top of the Breeders’ Cup. So, for us it’s either race the Breeders Crown in November or race it basically six days after The Red Mile. Now, we went to the Red Mile and asked them if they would move their Thursday, Friday, and Saturday races and then we could come back the next Friday and Saturday with the eliminations and they said no and that they were going to stay with their normal schedule that they’ve done for a long time. Part of this overall problem with the stakes calendar in general is just trying to work together, and you have some states that don’t want to do that.”

For the sake of not only next year’s Jug Preview — which deserves another chance as a major stake in Ohio leading up to the Little Brown Jug — but to optimize all stakes opportunities everywhere, here’s hoping for common ground to be found.