Another season of stakes racing is in the books, and as it is my privilege to do each year, here is my list of some of the most memorable events of 2024. With so many stakes contested, I'm sure I left some out, but hopefully you see one of your favorites or maybe one you've forgotten or missed out on and can go back and watch. First up is the MGM Borgata Pacing Series final at MGM Yonkers Raceway on April 22 where favorites Linedrive Hanover and Desperate Man got hooked up in a duel past the quarter, and Hellabalou and driver Yannick Gingras took advantage, storming three-wide into the lead on the last turn and pulling away to a 1:50 2/5 victory. That was Hellabalou's second straight win in the final. "I wasn't too, too pleased honestly when they were going at it. One part of me was like ‘okay, that's our chance to win,' but the other part of me was like ‘it's going way too fast and I'm too close to the fire.' Hellabalou, he's got all the ability, but sometimes when you've got to ask him, he doesn't really like to do a little extra work," Gingras said after the triumph. "That's the tricky part with him. When I had to chase him at the three-eighths just to keep up with those two, I'm like ‘I don't know if that's going to work out.' At the half I still wasn't sure, but once we came out of the third turn he was kind of swelling up on me. He felt good, so I liked my chances then." Moving on to May, the Kentucky Sires Stakes final for 4-year-old male pacers at Oak Grove on the 13th saw It's My Show, who usually comes from off-the-pace, on the front-end in a demanding clip. The closers took advantage, with Combustion and Todd McCarthy storming from seventh to beat Tip Top Cat by a head with Admiral Hill and Blue Lou close behind. The top four were separated by just a length-and-a-half. On the 26th at Harrah's Philadelphia, the Maxie Lee Memorial for older trotters had a different leader at each call, and when the dust settled, Venerate and driver Scott Zeron came from off cover to prevail in 1:50 1/5 over a track that had been mostly speed-favoring up to that point. That time was the fastest in the track's history for a trotter. June's action is led by the North America Cup for 3-year-old male pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and this year's edition was a classic as there were several lead changes, and then Nijinsky and Louis-Philippe Roy came from off cover to tally in 1:48 1/5 over Captains Quarters and an unlucky Captain Albano, who was locked in the pocket with no racing room. On the undercard of July 13th's Meadowlands Pace at The Big M there were three excellent contests. First up, Karl had to work hard to get to the front in his Stanley Dancer division as Security Protected and Dame Good Time traded the lead ahead of him. Karl finally cleared past the half, but the closers got by in the lane, with Sig Sauer and driver Andy McCarthy, who would go on to win quite a few stakes, rallying to better Tony Adams S by a head in 1:50 at 68-1. In the very next race, the Dorothy Haughton Memorial for pacing mares, Twin B Joe Fresh and Sylvia Hanover got locked up in a duel on the front end in the middle half, but Twin B Joe Fresh was able to stave off her rival and also Silver Label in the stretch to get the job done by half a length in 1:47 3/5. "She's racing against a great group of mares, so nothing comes easy," Dunn said after that victory. "She really had to dig deep late in the stretch there to hold them off. All credit to her, she did all the work and put an amazing mile in." The Hambletonian Maturity also had multiple lead changes over the extended distance of a mile and an eighth, and then a close finish as well as Chapercraz knifed between foes in the stretch for Gingras to defeat French Wine by a neck in 2:05 2/5. Oh Well was another neck back in third and a gaining Helpfirstedition was a lapped-on fourth in the scramble to the wire. Hambletonian Day on August 3 at the Meadowlands had a little bit of everything, from great racing to wild swings in the weather, from sun and a fast track to start to downpours during races. The Shady Daisy for 3-year-old pacing fillies went before the rain and Rocket Deo became the third leader prior to the half, then held on determinedly in a three-horse dash to the wire, defeating Canigetalouploup by a head in 1:49 with Andy McCarthy driving. "I had pretty good faith in her," said McCarthy that day. "I thought I was beat in mid-stretch. She's a gritty girl." One of the races run during the height of a storm was the John Cashman Memorial, and Jiggy Jog powered to a 1:49 2/5 victory for Dexter Dunn after sitting second-over behind an extended battle on the front-end between her stablemate Southwind Tyrion and defending race winner It's Academic. "I had such a good helmet to follow in Southwind Tyrion," said Dunn in the moment. "I knew it would have to be a big effort, but she just fills you with confidence when you sit behind her. She does her work so easy, and I was happy with the spot I was in." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter And, of course, the Hambletonian itself also went off during a pounding deluge, and Karl was able to get around a game Highland Kismet, who had taken the lead from first-over in the stretch, to prevail in 1:51 3/5. Amazing Catch and a traffic-troubled Sig Sauer were also close at the finish. It was a popular win as Gingras at last had his Hambletonian champion and trainer Nancy Takter won the event for the second straight year. "It's been a long time coming, that's for sure. I said before I thought it was my best chance I've ever had and the horse came through," remarked Gingras after the race. "We were all in the same situation (with the rain) there, but through the race I was actually really happy the way it was setting up. I thought it set up perfectly for us. The horse is a great horse, I don't think it would've mattered, but he proved today what a champion he is. "At the top of the stretch I was like ‘God dang it that fricking race is getting away from me again.' Highland Kismet kicked clear for a little bit. I had to wait on mine for a couple of strides and it was tight quarters. I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it. I figured an eighth of a mile was enough to show what a champion he was. I knew he would be a good helmet to follow, and for once I was right." Two days later on the 5th, Grand River Raceway hosted its annual Industry Day program, and the Battle Of Waterloo for Ontario-sired 2-year-old male pacers saw a dazzling performance by Stonebridge Wizard. He went to the lead in 26 seconds, parked a rival through a 53 1/5 half and 1:22 1/5 three-quarters, and held off a charging Sterling Choice to deliver by a head in 1:51 2/5. This was the first Battle Of Waterloo run over the new five-eighths-mile configuration at Grand River. Traveling over to Woodbine Mohawk Park on the 31st, It's My Show had more of his preferred trip in the Canadian Pacing Derby. He was able to tow along on the inside as El Rey, Voukefalas, and finally a first-over Abuckabett Hanover traded the lead. Zeron then got It's My Show off the cones in the lane and he moved past a game Abuckabett Hanover on the line for the victory by a nose in a 1:48 1/5 mile. Back in September, rookie pacing males met at The Meadows on the 5th for the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship, and Go Go Grasshopper and then TH Colby led early before Dreamboat Hanover took the lead from first-up. Dreamboat Hanover continued on the lead in the lane in game fashion, but he weakened late, paving the way for 7-1 shot Papi's Rocket to win in 1:51 1/5 for driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. At Harrah's Hoosier Park on the 20th, Coach Stefanos and Abuckabett Hanover were the leaders in the first-half of the Harrah's Hoosier Park Pacing Derby, but Little Rocket Man worked his way past Abuckabett Hanover past the half. From there, Little Rocket Man was able to repel a first-over Backstreet Shadow and did the same to Abuckabett Hanover and Bythemissal to the wire, winning by a quarter of a length in 1:48 1/5 for David Miller. "Those horses were coming to him. I was probably getting a little more nervous than what he was," Miller remarked after the victory. "He was like ‘we got this man, don't worry.'" One night later was a huge card at Woodbine Mohawk Park that included two million-dollar races. One of them, the Metro for 2-year-old male pacers, went to Fallout in rallying fashion in 1:49 1/5 for driver Tim Tetrick. Prince Hal Hanover, who was one of three pace-setters to go along with Blue Onyx and Captain Optimistic, came up a length short. Both of the Kentucky Futurities for 3-year-old trotters on October 6 at The Red Mile were wild and woolly affairs. R Melina battled Warrawee Michelle on the front-end in the race for the fillies but just kept going in the lane to score in 1:50 1/5 with Todd McCarthy in the bike, and then his brother Andy took the clash for the colts and geldings with Sig Sauer in 1:49 3/5 after wild fractions of 26 3/5, 52 4/5 and 1:21 were set by Highland Kismet and Tony Adams S. "He's a great horse," said Andy McCarthy following the win. "That trip was quite an effort." MGM Northfield Park hosted the Ohio Sires Stakes Championships this year, and the race for 2-year-old pacing fillies saw a pair of Virgil Morgan Jr. trainees, Odds On Hialeah and Odds On Chesapeake, battle side-by-side in the second-half of the mile, with Odds On Hialeah winning by a neck in 1:53. Skywalker Sea was just half a length behind them in the third spot. The Meadowlands rolled out the red carpet for the Breeders Crown on the 25th and 26th of October. In the 2-year-old male trot on opening night of the event, Maryland won in game fashion as he worked his way to the lead past the half and then held off a stern first-over challenge from Go Dog Go and then a closing attempt by Maximum Mearas S for a 1:51 4/5 triumph for Dunn. Then on the 26th, the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot went to Sig Sauer by a nose in a race where the top four were separated by just a length in a 1:50 4/5, and in likely the most memorable race of the weekend, Coach Stefanos, piloted by James MacDonald, came from last off a quick tempo to capture the Open Pace by half a length in 1:48 3/5. "I was having a little conversation with myself in my head there. I just said ‘don't panic, I know you're in a bad spot, but this horse gets home like a freight train and they're going to come back to you,'" MacDonald remarked after the win. "I said to (winning trainer) Erv Miller when I came off the track, ‘I know you were looking for fifth-over and tenth on the outside on the last turn weren't you?' He kind of chuckled. That's the kind of horse he is. Some days it's going to work out for him. Luckily tonight was his night. On other days he might let some bettors down as the favorite, but tonight, just a big-time finishing kick. Nothing's better than tenth to first in any race, let alone the Breeders Crown. "When we came off the turn, I just kind of rode out with the flow. He just jumped forward, and then I said ‘oh, maybe.' They started to kind of come back to him. Sometimes those closers, when they start to go by a couple of them, they get rolling and they get the wheels moving. Halfway down the lane, I kicked the plugs and he gave me another little surge. Then it was pushing him to the wire and praying he got there." Dover Downs had their annual Matron Stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds in November, and on the 7th in the 3-year-old filly pace, My Girl EJ became the third leader of the event before the half, but was overtaken in a three-horse battle to the wire by Direction and Todd McCarthy, who got the nod by a neck in 1:50 2/5. Rocket Deo also got by My Girl EJ for second. Back at the Meadowlands on the 9th for the Kindergarten Series finals, Maryland won the race for 2-year-old male trotters in much the same way he did his Breeders Crown as he brushed to the lead past the half and then withstood a ferocious first-over try by Monserrate, defeating him by half a length in 1:53 4/5. "He's a real racehorse," said Dunn of the winner. "He knows how to win, and he wants to win." Finally, the Goldsmith Maid for 2-year-old filly trotters on the 30th at the Meadowlands had the top-four finishers separated by just three-quarters of a length and the top three by a trio of noses as What A Bid Hanover got by Voguish and Luna Lovegood at the wire in 1:53 3/5 for trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt. For the controversy lovers out there, this one also had an inquiry against the winner for contact in the stretch, but no change was made. Also, I'd like to mention from that same card with the Goldsmith Maid, the Meadowlands once again did a wonderful job recognizing many of the sport's retiring stars. It's nice that many of them get one final winner's circle appearance and a fitting send-off. That's my list for this year. I'd like to thank all of the horses, horsepeople and our readers for another great year of stakes action and coverage, and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2025.