The final day for the 2025 meeting at Northville Downs at the Barry Expo Center was bittersweet as more track records were equaled or fell and tributes were held on Wednesday (October 15) to 14-year pacesetters and the retirement of a state race steward.
The afternoon started out cloudy and cool with temperatures in the low 50s after an overnight rain shower, but things quickly warmed up on the track in race one as Allamerican Beach (Wakizashi Beach – Graney) and rider Brad Kramer set a new track record for two-year-old gelding pacers in 1:59.3, winning wire-to-wire by a one-length margin. Allamerican Beach is owned by Al Tomlinson and Jack Mitchell, Jr. and is conditioned by Al Tomlinson.
In the second race, Anna Bri and Me (Fred and Ginger – Miss Wells) and driver Kody Massey equaled the track record of 1:59.2 for three-year-old fillies, originally set by Royalty Girl (K. Massey) on September 10. Anna Bri and Me is owned by Gregory Gardner and trained by Paul Cloer, Jr. and she also won in wire-to-wire fashion.
In race three Gap Hunter (Bondi Hanover – Fox Valley Bailey) came off the pace to equal the track record for three-year-old gelding pacers in 1:57.4, a record set on October 8 by King Putt (J. Casagranda). Later in the day, in race 10, King Putt (J. Endophanera – PV Miracle Mary) would reclaim the record by winning with driver Brad Kramer on the bike by a margin of six and a quarter in a stunning final clock of 1:55.2. Gap Hunter is owned and trained by Jocelyn Bates and piloted by Ty Goodell. King Putt was bred, owned and trained in Hastings, Michigan by Joe Casagranda.
During this week’s race programs, the 14-year-old pacers scheduled to compete were individually honored for their lifetime achievements as they face mandatory retirement at the end of 2025 under race rules. The horses honored were Itsonlyrockandroll A, Mach Stockn Barrel, All the Bettor, Model Ninetyfour, Avalanche Hanover and Liberal.
Also honored, after race eight, with an equestrian walk, was Michigan State Steward Jim Curran, a native of Jackson, Michigan, who has also been a harness trainer and driver.
Jim was a winner of more than 4,000 races as a driver in a storied career that led to his induction into the Illinois Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1987, along with drivers Dave Magee and Connel Willis, and since 2001, Jim has served his home state and others as a racing steward for many years.
As a driver, Jim went on to win riding titles at Maywood, Sportsman’s Park and Balmoral, et al. And it all started with his first driving victory with a horse named Russota on August 2, 1967, at the Mason County (Mich.) Fair.
When asked in a 1987 interview how horse racing influenced his life, Jim responded, “The horses have given me more pleasure than anything I have experienced in the sport. When I look back, the things that stand out are the big races I won, the good horses I rode and the fast miles I rode.”
Jim rode Rambling Willie in the early 1970s before Rambling Willie was the great horse he ultimately was.
And now, after years of serving the racing industry, Jim has set his sights on enjoying retirement.
Finally, the driver and trainer titles were decided on Wednesday, with Kody Massey (40 wins) capturing the driving title and Paul Cloer, Jr. the training title. Driver David Lake had closed the gap on Massey in recent weeks and came within two points at the end of the programme, but ran out of time and had to settle for second place with 38 wins. Paul Cloer, Jr. opened up victory on day one behind Gerald Malady for the training title and finished tied for second with David Lake, but Cloer took four wins in the afternoon while Lake and Malady had no training wins. Those four wins on the day cemented Cloer’s title with 14 wins on the meet, Malady in second with 11 and Lake third with 10.
For full race results, click here: American trotting results.
Through Kenneth W. Terpenning for Northville Downs
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