This Sunday afternoon, Rosecroft Raceway will take center stage from harness racing enthusiasts when the five-eighths mile oval in Prince George’s County hosts the ninth edition of the $125,000 Potomac Pace Invitational for Free-For-All aged pacers and once again the event is expected to attract a stellar field.
Not long after the Breeders Crown Final for Aged Pacers went official at The Meadowlands on October 26, Rosecroft Raceway racing secretary Pete Hanley began recruiting horses for the track’s signature event. In each of its previous eight editions, horses from the Breeders Crown had arrived for the Potomac and this fall is expected to be no different.
In the weeks leading up to the Potomac, many of the trainers with horses that have already competed in the Breeders Crown and other lucrative stakes for older horses across the country this season gradually committed to shipping their top trainees for the Potomac. Among the eight pacers expected on Sunday — the post positions and morning line were set on Thursday afternoon — five of the horses had exited the Breeders Crown Final and another was in an elimination.
Headlining the field for the Potomac for a second straight year is defending champion Bythemissal, a Ron Burke trainee who will once again have the services of Hall of Fame driver Yannick Gingras. Despite fading to fifth as the 2-5 favorite in the Breeders Crown final after a demanding first over journey, Bythemissal is expected to the solid favorite in Sunday’s main event.
Among those looking to dethrone the reigning Potomac Pace champion is Ruthless Hanover, arguably the best older pacer on a five-eighths mile track. In fact, Ruthless Hanover owns the fastest mile in the sport’s history on an oval that size, having scorched the Harrah’s Philadelphia surface in 1:46.3 in the spring of 2023, less than six months after Allywag Hanover had captured the Potomac in a then-world record 1:46.4.
Another older pacer looking for redemption in recent setbacks to Bythemissal is Abuckabett Hanover, himself no stranger to success in major stakes earlier this year for trainer Andrew Harris. Like Bythemissal and Ruthless Hanover, Abuckabett Hanover arrives off a subpar performance in the Breeders Crown final, but he is certainly capable of rebounding with a better effort this Sunday.
Two other pacers that last competed in the Breeders Crown final with little success at long odds, It’s My Show and Voukefalous, have also committed for the Potomac. It’s My Show solidified his status last year at age three by capturing the famed Little Brown Jug in Ohio, while Voukefalous has traveled to face many of the sport’s top four-year-olds this season.
Two other older pacers that did not compete in the Breeders Crown final, Charlie May and Little Rocket Man, will both arrive off sharp recent victories in Open company at two tracks in the midwest. Charlie May prevailed as the 3-5 favorite in the $24,000 Open in 1:50.3 at Dayton Raceway in Ohio on Nov. 7 for owner-breeder Don Tiger, while Little Rocket Man took the $22,000 Open at Hoosier Park in Indiana on Nov. 1 in 1:50.1 as the odds-on choice there.
While Hanley and Rosecroft General Manager Lisa Watts will undoubtedly be on hand for Sunday’s card, the Potomac will suffer from one notable absence. Track announcer Pete Medhurst, also the voice of Navy football, is still recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor and has transitioned from the intensive care unit to a hospital room for recovery and his presence will certainly be missed by local fans on track and those watching via simulcast across the country.
Post time for the Potomac Pace Day card on Sunday is set for 3 p.m., with the main event likely to go postward around 6:30 on the latter portion of a 14-race program.
