It takes a special horse to race in the Breeders Crown, it takes an extra special horse to win a Breeders Crown. That makes a horse like Emoticon Hanover that not only wins but defends a Breeders Crown title almost heavenly.

A talented field of nine trotting mares were set to contest to the 2018 $250,000 Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot, with the focus on two-time Breeders Crown winner Ariana G, previous Breeders Crown winner Broadway Donna and defending mare trot champ Emoticon Hanover. As the wings of the gate folded, Caprice Hill (Brian Sears) left strongest for an early lead before being fronted by Emoticon Hanover (Dan Dube) through a :27.1 opener. That mare would then yield to betting choice Ariana G (Yannick Gingras), still out and pressing on from an outside post. Ariana G cleared before the :56.4 half, and then faced the challenge of Broadway Donna (David Miller).

Gingras was keeping the tempo conservative, so Ake Svanstedt launched longshot Ice Attraction from last into a three-wide backstretch loop of the field and challenged Ariana G through a 1:25.2 third station. Heading for home, Ice Attraction fronted Ariana G but then faced the fresh Emoticon Hanover. Dube tipped her to the outer flow from that pocket ride and she collared that live longshot for the victory, with the mile timed in 1:54.1. Caprice Hill outmuscled a late-closing NF Happenstance (Jack Parker Jr.) for third.

"She's nice right now, she's good," said Dube. "We went to the passing lane last week, we went to the outside today. She does everything right, she is more relaxed. She is a special mare."

Bred in Ontario by Linda Wellwood, Tammy Aspden, Anne Shunock and Diane Ingham and owned by Determination of Montreal, Quebec, Emoticon Hanover (Kadabra - Emmylou Who) picked up her fifth win of the season in 14 starts. Luc Blais trains the winner of $1.57 million lifetime.

The Open Mare Trot was one of 12 lucrative finals on a star-studded 2018 Breeders Crown night at Pocono featuring most of harness racing's top participants. Read about the rest of the stakes action in the 2018 Breeders Crown News Centre.

(with quotes from Breeders Crown)