Dont Letem equalled the divisional track and Canadian record with an impressive 1:51.3 performance in the single $32,500 elimination for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The hot-handed Yannick Gingras drove Dont Letem to victory, matching the record held by Trixton (2014) and Canepa Hanover (2015).
The Muscle Hill-Passageway colt is trained by Nancy Johansson and owned by breeder Brittany Farms LLC along with Christina Takter, John Fielding and Herb Liverman.
Leaving from post five, Dont Letem set fractions of :28.1, :56.4 and 1:24.2 en route to the 1-1/4-length victory in record time. Chin Chin Hall (Peter Wrenn) overtook pocket-pursuer Green Manalishi S (Tim Tetrick), the Canadian Trotting Classic champion, in the stretch to finish second.
"That was probably Plan E or F to go to the front," said Gingras after the race. "I didn't really want to have him there. I didn't know what he was going to do but we were going so slow out of the gate -- it seemed like nobody wanted it -- so I had to go forward.
"I kicked the plugs late just to make sure and see what he would do but his mind is his own worst enemy but he didn't do anything wrong and he definitely had more trot.
"He's got light shoes [up front] now and it's completely the opposite of the normal things you would do but that's why the Takters are so good...they make moves like that."
Gimpanzee (David Miller), the favoured Yonkers Trot winner at 2-1, finished fourth with Soul Strong (Dexter Dunn), Goes Down Smooth (Matt Kakaley), Marseille (Ake Svanstedt) and Super Schissel (Louis Philippe Roy) completing the top eight finishers that will advance to the final.
The highly-anticipated sophomore colt trot will also include Kentucky Futurity winner Greenshoe and Hambletonian champion Forbidden Trade, who each received byes.
Sent postward as the 7-2 fourth choice off a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Futurity, Dont Letem paid $9.10 to win.
Here is a look at the field in post position order for the final:
$500,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
1. Green Manalishi S
2. Dont Letem
3. Marseille
4. Greenshoe
5. Chin Chin Hall
6. Gimpanzee
7. Goes Down Smooth
8. Forbidden Trade
9. Soul Strong
10. Super Schissel
The 2019 Breeders Crown, presented by Libfeld-Katz Breeding Partnership, will be contested next weekend at Woodbine Mohawk Park with the championships for three-year-olds and up set for Saturday, Oct. 26.