Harness: Dilloian stable stocked with strong older talent for 2025

Trainer Doug Dilloian Jr. had his horses ready when Yonkers Raceway opened the doors on its 2025 season. With a month away from the races and holidays to celebrate, there's always a question of how horses will respond from the time off.

"We had them ready," said Dilloian. "Gaitway's a great place to train and the horses were all prepped. Some trainers like to give them a few starts, but that's not what we do."

Dilloian's horses came out ready, and the results in the two weeks of January that Yonkers was in action were astounding, with the stable winning seven of its 17 starts in that short window.

"I wasn't surprised at how well they raced," said Dilloian of the accomplishment, with the wins a bonus for the preparation that went into it.

Dilloian low-keyed last year's breakout season for his stable that saw its earnings exceed $1 million for the first time. "We've always been around 30 percent," said Dilloian. "Last year was a little different because we went out and purchased Combustion."

Combustion was a $200,000 purchase at the 2023 Harrisburg sale following his 3-year-old season. The son of Captaintreacherous enjoyed modest success during his 4-year-old season while racing in the lucrative Kentucky Sire Stakes program, along with other overnight events. With a solid 4-year-old season under his belt, there will be much more earning potential this year.

"It was always the plan to keep him out of the Open races last year," said Dilloian, who is currently prepping Combustion for his 5-year-old campaign. "We're getting him ready for the Borgata Series."

While Combustion preps, Dilloian is not short on talent in the stable that numbers around 20 on any given day. The make-up of the stable is interesting in today's racing game.

"We don't have any 3-year-olds and don't have any 2-year-olds in the barn," said Dilloian, who up until recently didn't have claimers among his stable either.

"The Wallachs (Ira and Brian) approached me a few years back and asked me to take claimers," said Dilloian. "I turned them down then because it wasn't something I wanted to do."

Dilloian was asked again last year and decided to expand his stable and take advantage of the lucrative purse structure at Yonkers. "The Wallachs are very aggressive," said Dilloian. "They buy them and put them right back in at the same level."

For Dilloian, who had operated a small stable over the years with horses staying for years under his care, the claiming game was a departure that increased the number of horses he would start and the number of races he would win.

While the claiming game has helped get his season off to a flying start, it was clear that having horses to fill the conditioned classes at Yonkers was paramount to Dilloian's focus. Much of the success over the last few years has come from importing quality horses from Down Under, and it's easy to see by the 2025 results that the trainer has come up with another solid group. Finvarra A has won his first two starts of the year, including the featured $35,000 Invitational on January 27 at Yonkers.

"I think he's an Open horse during the winter," Dilloian said of the 7-year-old by American Ideal who came through the same pipeline that has brought him other top horses in the past.

"I've got one of my best friends Mark Lewis down there, and he finds the horses and I get first crack at them," said Dilloian of Lewis, who raced in the States for a while but returned to his homeland. "We take horses that race at Gloucester Park (Australia) because the track is very similar to Yonkers, and for the most part if they can race over that surface they can fit here."

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Finvarra A came out of the top classes for older horses and has fit nicely at Yonkers thus far, but Dilloian is awaiting the arrival (February 5) of Jumpingjackmac, a horse from similar connections, with higher class potential. "He's made over $950,000," said Dilloian of the horse from the last crop of Mach Three.

Jumpingjackmac has the half-mile track talent and hopefully the class necessary to compete at the highest level. "If everything goes as planned, we'll point him towards the Borgata Series."

Dilloian understands that not all the horses will meet expectations when they arrive and is able to weigh that in his calculus. "Ideally I like to have my horses race well and start them no more than 30 times over the year," said Dilloian. "I want them to stay sharp, so I'll give them a break here or there."

While Dilloian expects Combustion as a 5-year-old to be ready to battle the best, he's taking a more modest approach with the now-4-year-old Endofstory.

"They sent him to me last year to race in the New Jersey Sire Stakes," Dilloian said of the altered son of Lazurus. "Then, I had my ownership group buy the horse with the idea that he'd be a nice fit for the 3-5 year-old Opens at Yonkers."

Endofstory went some big trips late in the season, including a 1:49 4/5 career-best mile at Pocono. He is now being prepped for 2025, with Dilloian staying close to script at Yonkers and perhaps adding a few other stakes engagements versus 4-year-old competition.

Dilloian once again went back to Harrisburg last fall and was able to purchase five from the sale. The Sweet Lou-sired Lydeo, a former campaigner in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, is close to qualifying. "She's training very well," said Dilloian. "I'm not sure she's ready for the Matchmaker, but I think she'll do well near the Open level."

Another late-2024 purchase, Rose Run Xtra won his first and only start for Dilloian in December at Yonkers. "He trotted in [1]:55 and change," said Dilloian, who expects the son of Cash Hall to have a solid season over the Yonkers half-mile track.

"We've been very fortunate to have great help, and that's made the difference," said Dilloian, recognizing that it is indeed a team effort to be able to expand a stable and continue to have success at a high level.

While January's high win percentage will be hard to maintain, it is clear that Doug Dilloian's stable has gained power and will be a force to reckon with at Yonkers and beyond in 2025.