Scioto: Burke with a trio of chances in Grand Circuit stakes

Major stakes action comes to Scioto Downs on Saturday night and trainer Ron Burke has some heavy hitters in his arsenal looking to sweep both the $440,000 Jim Ewart Memorial and the $220,000 Charlie Hill Memorial.

In the Charlie Hill that goes as race 13 on the card, Burke sends out a powerful pair in last year’s Hambo winner Atlanta and the talented Ohio-bred Mission Accepted.

Atlanta is one of three previous Hambletonian winners in the field of nine with Triple Crown champion Marion Marauder (post 3) and Pinkman (post 6) joining the fray.

“She’s come back well after the disaster at Tioga (August 11),” Burke said. “She’s going to have to do a little better to get past Guardian Angel As who’s very sharp right now.”

Atlanta and driver Yannick Gingras drew post seven and will start directly inside of Guardian Angel As, who last week captured the Maple Leaf Trot for trainer Anette Lorentzon on the front end while Atlanta raced parked the entire mile from post 10 and was a very solid second.

Atlanta had a gap in racing between July 13 and August 11 and some had questioned why the mare would be idled after winning six of her first seven starts this year in dominant fashion.

“I wanted to give her a break,” said Burke. “With the International Trot (October 12) on her schedule, I wanted to make sure we’d have her sharp for that race.”

Indeed the $1 million International Trot at Yonkers is certainly a race worth pointing towards. “I’m probably going to give her a break after this race and then bring her back and maybe get an overnight at Yonkers or a qualifier. She’s great gaited and I’m sure she’ll get around the track,” Burke said.

Burke expects Atlanta to be sharp on Saturday and he also believes that Mission Accepted could be a sleeper. “It’s his home track,” said Burke. “He stables 10 minutes from here.”

Mission Accepted is a top Ohio-bred that won in 1:52 at Scioto last season. Chris Page will drive him from post five.

The $440,000 Ewart goes as race 14 and Burke is hoping to see a different strategy employed when This Is The Plan leaves the gate from post five.

“We’re not going to sit behind Lather Up again,” Burke said with conviction. “It’s like Groundhog’s Day. We keep sitting behind him and he keeps backing into us.”

The trainer was referring quite directly to last week’s Canadian Pacing Derby where This Is The Plan was trapped behind Lather Up through the final turn as that one had difficulty keeping a solid pace. “On a mile track you can sit behind him,” Burke said of Lather Up, “But on the smaller tracks he struggles on the turns. We’re just going to send him.”

Burke had seen This Is The Plan finish first or second in eight consecutive high-stakes events in 2019, but This Is The Plan had to settle for a fourth-place finish last week. A winner of nearly $1.3 million during his career, This Is The Plan will leave from post five in the Ewart.

The aforementioned Lather Up drew post eight in the field of 10 that will include a trailer. Lather Up, despite his issues on the turn last week, managed to finish second. The world champion by way of his 1:46 clocking in the Graduate at The Meadowlands in July has won eight of his 12 races this year and heading into last week’s Canadian Pacing Derby had looked pretty much invincible in 2019. Clearly, a week can change that and Saturday’s post position suggests a long journey.

Courtly Choice upset Lather Up at odds of 34-1 in the Pacing Derby and he’ll look to capture back-to-back stakes from post seven. Trainer Blake McIntosh has patiently brought the son of Art Major to peak form and he’ll once again have the services of James MacDonald on Saturday.

Defending Horse of the Year McWicked ran into road trouble in the Pacing Derby but could be better spotted (post 2) for the Ewart. A fourth-place finisher in this race a year ago, McWicked is the richest horse in the field with $4.4 million in career earnings.

The 4-year-old Jimmy Freight has had to take a back seat in this division due to some tough draws, but the speedy son of Sportswriter landed the pole position on Saturday in search of his first major triumph of the season.

Scioto Downs offers 16 races on Saturday with a first post slated at 6:30 p.m.