The Little Brown Jug will take place at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on Sept. 19.
This is the biggest sporting event in Delaware County, and it regularly brings huge crowds to watch the country’s best three-year-old colt pacers. This year, the Little Brown Jug will crown its 79th winner.
(Note: While there have been many spectacular wins in the Little Brown Jug, Ohio Wesleyan University football boosters are quick to point out that the all-time greatest Delaware County victory was the Battling Bishops 17-7 win over the Michigan Wolverines in 1928. They have a valid point.)
Anyway, back to the Jug.
The Little Brown Jug takes place each year on the third Thursday after Labor Day.
It’s the greatest show on dirt, except it’s not really dirt. They run on clay, but the greatest show on clay just doesn’t have the same ring to it as dirt, so, deal with it. Oh, and if it looks like rain, the cover the track with pea gravel to absorb the water, which doesn’t make sense to me because I’d think pea gravel would be no picnic to run on, but I’m not a horse person, so . . .
The race is named after a famous plow-horse turned pacer – Little Brown Jug. The horse was one of most well-known pacers of the 1800s, winning 17 times. When the Delaware Gazette hosted a contest to name the race, Little Brown Jug was the winner from numerous entries.
The Jugette is held on Wednesday for three-year-old fillies. Female horses are generally slower than their male counterparts.
Admission to the fairgrounds on Jug Day is $20, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After 5 p.m., regular admission prices resume.
There is plenty of room for tailgating in the parking lot, and attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs and coolers to Jug Day festivities. Some people start lining up for the races at 7 a.m. However, arriving early doesn’t guarantee you a track-side seat, because at the end of each Little Brown Jug, some fans use chains and locks to secure their chairs to the fence around the racetrack to reserve their spot for the following year. I don’t care what you say, that’s dedication to the sport.
Jug Day is a festival of horse racing. The first of 20-22 races on the day begins at noon. The Jug preliminary races begin around 4:30 p.m. The finale begins about 6:30 p.m. The track does not have lights, so the race must start before dark.
Getting a horse into the Little Brown Jug is not as simple as raising a great pacer. It’s a three-year process in which owners and trainers pay a graduated fee. The entry fee for a yearling is $50, and the Jug will register about 1,200 horses. The fee for a two-year-old is $500, and about 400 horses will remain in the pool. The fee for a three-year-old is $750, and the field drops to about 100 horses.
The final fee to enter the Jug is $7,000, and 16-18 horses will be registered for the Jug. If an owner wants to enter the Jug, but hasn’t paid any of the preliminary fees, they can pay a supplemental fee of $45,000.
Race Secretary Tom Wright said he won’t know how many horses are being registered for the Jug until three days before the race.
There are usually two or three preliminary heats to race for the Jug, each of which have a winner’s purse of $50,000. Generally, the top four horses from each preliminary heat will race in the featured event.
