It’s September, which means it’s Jug month!

by John Berry

Oh, how I love those French fries that hang over the edge of the cup.

Most folks put ketchup or salt on them, but there’s always a bottle of vinegar on the stand, if you prefer.

You will find them this month at the fairgrounds in Delaware, OH, some of what makes up the Little Brown Jug.

Those who have been to Delaware, OH, and those historic Fair Grounds know.

If you haven’t ever been there, you’ve got to go!

To me, the Little Brown Jug is “the greatest show on earth!”

A few Mane Attractions ago, we brought you back 100 years leading up tothe first Hambletonian and, now, it’s time to give the Little Brown Jug equal billing.

The official history of the Jug began in 1946 and, when all was said and done, iconic harness racing writer Tom Gahagan, putting his pen to the Horseman and Fair World magazine, wrote, “The Jug is now established as a ‘great American Classic!’”

How true that still is today.

Actually, the history of the Little Brown Jug goes back even further.

The Delaware County Fair, itself, was “foaled” in 1938 and two iconic gentlemen — an attorney and a newspaper editor and publisher — were the ones that put it all together; one with a seemingly poor memory.

Joe Neville was an attorney in Delaware, OH, with a gift in what is described as “foresight.”

Henry Clay Thomson, known as Hank, was publisher of the Delaware (Ohio) Gazette and these two gentlemen, joined by one Thurman Wayne “Curly” Smart, were the trifecta of gents that put it all together.

In 1940, the Delaware County Fair, remember, only two years old at that time, had been invited to put the finishing touches on its year-old racetrack and join harness racing’s main attraction, the Grand Circuit.

In response to that invite, many of the experienced advisors cautioned against accepting the invite, lamenting that it would not be possible to have the facility ready for this “show of shows” of our sport.

After all, there hadn’t been one single building on the grounds when the Fair opened two years before.

So, Neville told his friend Thomson that it’s best if the offer is turned down with the hope of, maybe, getting another try when the Fair had a few more years under its girth.

The Grand Circuit folk had said they’d make the invitation official if they didn’t hear anything for 24 hours with Neville saying he’d send a refusal by telegram “this afternoon.”

A couple of days later in the office of the Delaware Gazette, a bulletin came across the Associated Press wire that the Delaware County Fair had, indeed, been awarded Grand Circuit dates.

Thomson gawked as he read the release in disbelief and, when contacted about it, Neville said, “Oh my heavens, I plumb forgot to send that telegram.”

Neville was said to be kind of a gambler at heart and, if he believed in something, he was like “a bull in a china shop.”

So, harness racing history was to show that one of the most famous telegrams in all of sport was the one that was never sent out, and this became the seed for the Little Brown Jug.

The very first year of the Fair, Thomson remarked that they raced for a couple of stakes events for $2,000, which was unheard of, as the normal fair purses were no more than $500.

Some months later after that, Neville and Thomson outlined the next step, the establishment of a big stakes event — an important and forever lasting event to put Delaware, OH, in the spotlight among Grand Circuit racetracks.

Since the early 1940s was still in the age of the trotter, Neville thought to put the pacer on the center stage.

Neville saw that the popularity of the pacing horse was gaining momentum and his vision was to create the event being billed as a pacing equal to the Hambletonian Stake for trotters.

The skeptics were many, especially the “trotting purists” as the Delaware representatives presented their idea at the Grand Circuit meeting to discuss their views.

The tilting argument came from the founder of the Trotting Horse Club of America, E. Roland Harriman, who surprised the nay-sayers with his foresight the same as Joe Neville.

Fair officials then offered a $100 prize in a contest to name the event which would be advertised as the richest race in the world for 3-year-old pacers.

Entries were received — over 4,000 of them — from all over North America, but one gentleman from Mt. Vernon, 33 miles to the east of Delaware, won the contest.

Major Lanning Parsons came up with the name Little Brown Jug, honoring that pacer that was foaled in Tennessee but came to Ohio to race.

Little Brown Jug was the very first of the great Tennessee Hal horses and many of the current pacers of the pre-Little Brown Jug era were gifted with his bloodline, including the great pacer, Adios.

Major Parsons suggested that a shiny brown jug trophy be the race’s symbol and as well as the tune Little Brown Jug, an American folk song (and drinking song) written around 1870 by one Joseph Eastburn Winner.

That song became a huge hit for Glenn Miller in 1939.

The track, itself, was extra wide and perfectly banked with the shape of the oval dictated by a 40-foot-deep ravine on the east end of the track.

There was a two-year gap in planning the event for the first nominated yearlings to become 3-year-olds in 1946 and that necessitated the two Little Brown Jug previews in 1944 and 1945.

There were $10,000 previews and each of the Jug previews, were the richest purses at that time for 3-year-old pacers.

The 1944 edition was won by Eddie Havens, driven by a Delaware County farmer, who lived at 219 Fountain Street, just a little over one mile from the fairgrounds, the aforementioned Curly Smart.

Eddie Havens won in straight heats — 2:03 1/2 and 2:03.

Ironically, he also drove the tractor, as well, to keep the track lightning fast.

Oh, by the way, Eddie Havens was owned by Joe Neville, with the trophy presented by Joe’s uncle, Jim Neville, the gent that got nephew Joe interested in harness racing.

The 1945 Jug preview was won by True Chief, handled by the immortal Sep Palin, who won the Hambletonian 10 years prior with another immortal, Greyhound.

The Little Brown Jug was still one year away from carving out its history and was already drawing the greatest horsemen and horses in our grand sport.

Just one other note to hit the finish line on this Mane Attraction.

Years later, Thomson, who was designated to be the racing secretary at the fair, asked Neville why he picked him to that post, as Thomson knew virtually nothing about horses.

Neville began chuckling through his 350 pounds and said, “I figured that way we’d get all the publicity we needed from the Delaware Gazette.

Yes, it’s Little Brown Jug time.

May The Horse Be With You!