Northfield: Page hopes for elusive Battle of Lake Erie victory

Chris Page fulfilled a childhood dream in 2022 when he won the Little Brown Jug with Bythemissal. On Saturday, Page will be reunited with the horse for the first time since that season and aim to capture another race he attended regularly as a youngster.

Bythemissal and Page will look to win Saturday’s $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie, an invitational for older pacers, at MGM Northfield Park. Page, a 40-year-old Ohio native, first attended the race in 1994, when Arrive At Five won the event in a then stakes-record 1:51 4/5 with John Campbell in the sulky.

Page has driven in the Battle on six previous occasions. His best finish came in 2015, when he and Clear Vision were second by a neck to Foiled Again. Clear Vision, sent off at 6-1, was Page’s only previous starter with single-digit odds.

“When I was growing up, we went to the Jug and we always went to the Battle,” Page said. “It would definitely be a feather in the old cap if I can get the Battle. If I could get the Battle this year, it would be great. It would be like the Jug 2.0.”

Bythemissal, who will start the Battle from post two in a field of nine, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Page and trainer Ron Burke. Bythemissal is undefeated in three lifetime races at Northfield Park and will be one of two horses Saturday with the chance to be the first to win all three of the half-mile oval’s top pacing events: the Carl Milstein Memorial, Myron Charna President’s Pace, and Battle.

A 5-year-old son of Downbytheseaside-Dismissal, Bythemissal won the Milstein in a world-record-equaling 1:48 4/5 in 2022, with Page, and won the Charna last year in 1:48.2 with Yannick Gingras.

“It’s very cool to be back with The Missal,” Page said. “We could make history. Continue to rewrite the record books, not only for him, but for me too. Hopefully, with a little luck, we’ll get the job done.”

Bythemissal won his only start as a 2-year-old, then joined the Burke Stable at 3 and blossomed into a Grand Circuit star. As a 3-year-old, Bythemissal hit the board in all 16 of his races, winning 13 and earning $1.16 million. Page drove the horse in all but one of those starts, with the tandem’s victories in addition to the Little Brown Jug and Milstein Memorial including the Adios, Monument Circle, and Ohio Sire Stakes championship.

Last year, Bythemissal won 11 of 16 races, earned $984,666, and received the Dan Patch Award for best older male pacer despite being sidelined for two months because of sickness. Gingras drove the gelding in all his starts last season, with their top win coming in the Breeders Crown Open Pace.

“You always look at where you started, where you’re at, and where you want to go,” Page said. “In that horse’s career, he started in April (2022) in a non-winners of two, then went on to win the sire stakes and Grand Circuit events like the Jug and the Adios. It’s kind of cool to be part of the ride and the development process through the stages.

“He went on to bigger and better things (last year), but I was there for the come up, and that’s always a good part. You learn a lot about horses during that part.”

What did Page learn about Bythemissal?

“He just felt a little different from the other horses,” Page said. “He reminded me of his dad, Downbytheseaside, as far as the horse has four lungs; he never gets tired. During his whole 3-year-old career when I drove, the horse never got passed. He might not have won, but he never got passed from the back. He’s got that grit, that determination.

“When Ronnie put the open bridle on him (changing from a closed bridle after his first four races in 2022) the horse really became user friendly. That just seemed to take him from being a good horse to a great horse, in my opinion.”

Bythemissal has raced once so far this year, finishing fifth from post eight in the Joseph Auger Memorial Invitational on May 26 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. He came home with a race-best 26 3/5 last quarter.

For his career, Bythemissal has won 25 of 34 races and earned $2.15 million. He is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Rich Lombardo Racing, and Weaver Bruscemi.

Bythemissal is one of two Burke horses in the Battle of Lake Erie, joined by Camluck Classic and MGM Borgata Pacing Series winner Hellabalou. The 6-year-old stallion will leave from post five with driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and is 6-1 on the morning line.

Camluck Classic runner-up Linedrive Hanover is the 7-2 second choice. He will start from post one with Aaron Merriman driving for trainer Anthony Beaton. Desperate Man, leaving from post nine in the second tier with Matt Kakaley in the sulky for Travis Alexander, is next at 4-1.

Charlie May, the other Battle participant to have already won the Milstein and Charna in his career, will start from post seven with Brett Miller driving for Steve Carter. Charlie May is 15-1 but has never finished worse than second in eight career races at Northfield, winning four. He has started from post seven, eight or nine in six of those previous races.

“It’s the best older horses in the country and it’s going to be an action-packed race,” Page said. “It’s going to be exciting.”

For more about the Battle of Lake Erie card, click here. Racing begins at 6 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at Northfield Park.