Trio of Open events take center stage on Tuesday at Rosecroft

Tuesday evening's 14-race card at Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland will offer a solid trio of Open events on the latter half of the program on a night when a pair of pacers and two human champions will also be honored.

Tuesday's eighth race is the $12,500 Open 1 Handicap for older pacers and the race attracted the usual solid contingent. Hi Sir (Russell Foster) has been unlucky in his last two starts, but look for the seven-year-old Sir Luck gelding to be on the move before the half this week and perhaps doing his best pacing in the lane. Right alongside him in the lane will be Varsity Hanover (Donald Dancer), who stayed in last week but will be likely out and rolling along with Hi Sir before the half.

Expect both Hi Sir and Varsity Hanover to reach the wire in close proximity, which will be fitting on this occasion. Hi Sir has been tabbed as the Rosecroft fall meet champion by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association. He has posted four wins and finished second four times and banked $36,000 through his first nine starts at the meet and will likely add to those totals in Tuesday's last Open 1 event of the meet.

Varsity Hanover, who owns four wins and three second-place finishes and earnings of roughly $28,750 from 11 starts at the meet thus far, has been selected as the Rosecroft fall meet champ by track management. Varsity Hanover and Hi Sir became well-acquainted in the Open events throughout the meet. Varsity Hanover, dubbed the "Crumpton Crusher" for his local efforts at age two in 2011, is a six-year-old Modern Art gelding owned and trained by James Whalen, Jr.

One race later on the card the top older trotters will be on display in another contentious $10,000 Open 2 for that gait. Then one race later it will be the older pacers back on the track in the $10,000 Open 2. Concert Artist (Tim Offutt) was a sharp winner against conditioned foes last week and steps back into the Open ranks with a genuine chance to prevail.

Also on the Tuesday card the track will honor Frank Milby as its leading driver at the fall meet and Ken Schlotzhauer as top trainer. Both Milby and Schlotzhauer were also the respective spring champions of their profession here. Milby, the son of trainer Don Milby, will perhaps always be linked with the durable, talented and late aged pacer Pilgrim's Fiery, who recorded over 100 victories during his career. Schlotzhauer is known for his work with durable pacers Honest Fella and Talbot Redneck, who is competing on the Tuesday card.

This coming Saturday night will mark the final live racing program of the meet. Next spring the track will make a slight adjustment to the schedule, racing Tuesday and Sunday evenings then in the fall the tentative plan is to race Tuesday and Thursday evenings, when incoming simulcast revenues should peak.