The connections of sophomore filly pacers Tug River Princess and Native Bride put $62,500 on the line to vie for a Breeders Crown title in their $610,000 divisional contest.
It is the only Breeders Crown race in which supplements were declared. The $4.9 million Breeders Crown events will be contested on Saturday, November 29, at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Let It Ride, Robert Cooper Stables and Jerry Silva’s Tug River Princess is the top money-winner in her division this year with $705,450, while Sears and TH Stable’s Native Bride has more pari-mutuel wins than any of her peers with 15 wins in 19 starts.
The Delaware-bred Tug River Princess was a February purchase by Eric Cherry’s Let it Ride Stable. “I am always looking for nice race horses, especially mares,” said Cherry. “When we bought her we weren’t sure how good she was going to be, we were hoping how good she would be, so we made all the Grand Circuit stake payments we could. We didn’t supplement her then [to the Crown], figuring if she was good enough we could supplement her later. Obviously she turned out to be worth it.”
Though Native Bride defeated Tug River Princess decisively in the Matron Stakes, Cherry was happy with the race and hopes to have an entry with another recent purchase for the partners, American-National winner Btwnyurheartnmine, who is eligible to the event.
Native Bride sports a hefty bankroll of $468,743 for owners Jay Sears and Matt Gallagher’s TH Stables. The daughter of Allamerican Native has exceeded all expectations for her current owners, racing primarily on the Pennsylvania circuit under the care of trainer/driver Joe Pavia Jr.
“She has been a grand filly for us, a real blessing,” said Jay Sears, father of leading driver Brian Sears. “She has been everything we hoped for and more, which isn’t always the way it works out in the horse business. When Joe [Pavia] went back home to Florida, we gave her to Noel Daley to train and took a shot in supplementing her to the Garnsey in Lexington.”
Native Bride won the Garnsey and the supplemental parlay began. She was next supplemented to the Matron and won it, so her connections agreed it was on to the Breeders Crown.
This Crown division has been won four times by supplements, including 2001 Horse of the Year Bunny Lake and subsequent divisional champions Popcorn Penny, Odies Fame and Burning Point.
There are no supplemental provisions for two-year-old races. The finalists for the eight Breeders Crown Finals will be determined through elimination races this Friday and Saturday nights at the Meadowlands.
Regular entries for eligible trotters and pacers are due by 10:00 a.m. Tuesday at the Meadowlands race office. Eliminations for all two-year-olds will be raced on Friday and eliminations for all three-year-olds will be Saturday. Elimination winners may pick their post position for the finals.
The $4.9 million divisional championships for two- and three-year-old trotters and pacers have finals scheduled for Saturday, November 29, at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Post time is 7:00 p.m. For a complete list of eligibles check hambletonian.org.
(Hambletonian Society)