The second night of Breeders Crown eliminations took place on Friday, Oct. 20 at Harrah's Hoosier Park with the finalists determined for the two-year-old pacing divisions and three-year-old filly divisions.

Freshman pacing fillies Geocentric and Pass Line continue win streaks

In the $25,000 eliminations for freshman pacing females, undefeated Geocentric (pictured above), the 1-5 favourite with Tim Tetrick aboard, nailed down her ninth consecutive win in 1:51 for trainer Brian Brown and owners Milton Leeman, Alan Keith, James Stambaugh and Joe Sbrocco. Geocentric pushed her career earnings to $549,251 with the win.

Ronnie Wrenn Jr. sent 43-1 shot Canigetalouploup to the lead in a :27.2 first quarter before being overtaken by the eventual winner, who paced through quarters of :56.3 and 1:25, before cruising under the wire well within herself.  My Girl EJ (Dexter Dunn) was second at 2-1, with Canigetalouploup third, Caviart Bell (Yannick Gingras) fourth and Peace Talks (David Miller) fifth.

“She had picked a shoe half off in the post parade and we had to get it fixed,” said winning trainer Brian Brown about a slight race delay. “This mare doesn’t really do anything wrong. I was a little concerned about My Girl EJ coming down the stretch, but Timmy [driver Tetrick] never pulled the ear plugs.”

The daughter of Sweet Lou is out of the unraced Somebeachsomewhere mare, Geometry, bred by Diamond Creek Farm and has half-siblings in Horizontal (sired by Always B Miki) p, 3, 1:48.4 ($113,910), and Divide (sired by A Rocknroll Dance) p, 3, 1:54.1s ($50,863).

Ontario Sires Stakes champion Pass Line made it look easy in her Breeders Crown elimination for two-year-old filly pacers on Friday evening at Hoosier Park. The daughter of All Bets Off was the 3-5 choice among the bettors, securing the victory for trainer Ronnie Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. 

The homebred bay filly is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Frank Baldachino, and procured her sixth straight triumph with this win, the 10th of her career in 12 starts, and she now has $524,652 in career earnings for these connections.

When the gate opened in front of the field of six, 67-1 longshot Genie Hanover (Todd McCarthy) took the early lead to a :27 first quarter, before being overtaken by 52-1 Behest (Scott Zeron). Going to the half, the leader was challenged by 4-1 shot Its A Love Thing (James MacDonald) before Pass Line stormed quickly to the outside to the 1:26 three-quarters, pacing home to win easily in 1:53. Second choice Blue Pacific (David Miller) got up for second, Camerican (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) was third, with Behest and Its A Love Thing rounding out the elim. 

“There was a lot of movement in the race and when I came up, they were going pretty slow up front,” said winning driver Gingras. “She can go pretty fast and this filly is Burke all the way in terms of breeding. They have more and more mares and the quality of them have gotten better over the past five years.”

Pass Line is one of five horses trained by Burke in these two eliminations, while conditioner Brian Brown has two as well.

The field for the final in post position order follows.

Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Post - Horse
1. Canigetalouploup
2. Geocentric
3. Behest
4. Pass Line
5. Camerican
6. Its A Love Thing
7. Caviart Belle
8. My Girl EJ
9. Blue Pacific
10. Peace Talks

Zanatta, Strong Poison foil star sophomore pacing fillies

All year long Sylvia Hanover and Twin B Joe Fresh have reigned atop the divisional standings, but both were upset as odds-on choices when Zanatta and Strong Poison struck gold in the pair of $25,000 eliminations for the Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace.

The long Hoosier stretch aided a persistent Zanatta in the first elimination as she plugged off a pocket trip to a last-inch victory against 1-9 favourite Twin B Joe Fresh in a 1:52 mile to take the first elimination.

Twin B Joe Fresh (Dexter Dunn) marched forward from post five for the lead with Zanatta leaving from the pylon post and securing the pocket for Joe Bongiorno. After a :28.1 first quarter, no one bid to challenge Twin B Joe Fresh up the backstretch. She strolled uncontested by a :57.3 half and gradually gathered speed to the far turn while Zanatta followed with keen interest on her helmet. Twin B Joe Fresh clicked by three-quarters in 1:25.4 and spun for home well held until the pressure kept mounting from pocket-pulling Zanatta in mid-stretch. Twin B Joe Fresh extended for the finish but Zanatta came with a final lunge that landed a nose blow at the beam. Always B Naughty (Andrew McCarthy) grabbed third from McSeaside (David Miller) and Front Page Story (Tim Tetrick) rounded the top five.

“I have absolute faith in this filly,” saod winning trainer Jenn Bongiorno. “She is amazing. I was just really proud of how she could hunt her [Twin B Joe Fresh] down tonight. She has been my favourite the whole time training down as a baby. Last year, she won the Three Diamonds and it was amazing. This is a huge feat for her. Winning a Breeders Crown elim with my brother means the world to me. I hope we are back here [in the winner's circle] next week. That would top everything but right now I'm a really happy girl.”

Jenn’s brother, Joe, piloted Zanatta to her sixth victory from 27 starts, which pushed her bankroll over the $600,000 mark for owner One Legend Stable Inc. AM Bloodstock Inc. bred the daughter of Stay Hungry who returned $24.80 to win in the upset.

Strong Poison then went on a speed mission down the highway to victory lane over 1-5 favourite Sylvia Hanover with a 1:51.2 winning effort in the second elimination.

Leaving from post six, driver Yannick Gingras planted Strong Poison on the helm by a :27 first quarter while Sylvia Hanover (Bob McClure) settled into fourth. With no challengers oncoming, Strong Poison snagged a breather to a :57.3 half and pushed on the pedal as Sylvia Hanover mounted a first-over charge to the far turn. Strong Poison slipped to a wider lead coming to three-quarters in 1:25.3 and fired down the stretch with a :25.4 final quarter to seal a 2-3/4-length victory over Sylvia Hanover. Charleston (Tim Tetrick) closed up the inside for third with Beach Cowgirl (Brian Sears) finishing fourth and Sweet Amira (Louis-Philippe Roy) completing the finalists.

“She's been knocking on the door all season and the Lasix tonight may have made a difference,” said Gingras. “She was getting a little weak in the last 16th [of the mile] every week in Lexington but she was strong to the wire tonight. They were walking up there so I figured why not give [going to the front] a shot.” 

Winning her eighth race from 25 starts, Strong Poison has now banked $776,842 for owners Burke Racing Stable, J&T Silva Stables, Knox Services and Beasty LLC. The Ron Burke-trained daughter of Always B Miki was bred by Steve Stewart and Charles and Julie Nash. She paid $10.20 to win.

Special Way and Bond headed for a Crown showdown in sophomore filly trot final

Special Way and driver Tim Tetrick came from off the pace wide down the homestretch to capture the first of two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations for three-year-old trotting fillies.

Last year’s Crown champion in this division, Special Way trotted the mile in 1:55 for her fifth win in seven sophomore starts.

Kentucky Futurity Filly champion Mommamia Volo was sent off as the 1-2 favourite and driver Todd McCarthy left strongly looking for the front but the filly made a break heading into the first turn and was never a threat afterwards. Quick Stop and Tony Hall left from the pole position and kept control of the race as a 67-1 offering, cutting the first half fractions of :28.1 and :58.1 uncontested.

Special Way moved to the outside with Tetrick following to the half and flushed the cover first of Heaven Hanover and Brian Sears and then Silly Me Hanover (Yannick Gingras) came up without cover nearing three-quarters to put her in third-over position.

Following a three-quarters set by Quick Stop in 1:27.2, Special Way rallied wide and quickly gained traction swooping the field by mid-stretch and coasting home to an easy score. Hambletonian Oaks winner Heaven Hanover rallied late for second with Baroness Hill (Doug McNair) closing between horses for third. Quick Stop held well enough for the fourth spot with Silly Me Hanover completing the qualifiers.

Trained by Ake Svanstedt, the millionaire filly Special Way is owned and was bred by Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld.

“She was a little short in the Futurity,” said Tetrick. “She just flew by them tonight.”

As the second choice in the field, the Walner filly returned $8.60 to win.

Svanstedt-trained fillies swept the divisions when the veteran horseman piloted Bond in the second $25,000 elimination to an impressive 1:52.2 victory, pulling away late from pacesetter Railee Something for her seventh win in 11 starts this year. The daughter of Southwind Frank scored as the prohibitive 1-5 favourite.

Bond and Railee Something left out hard at the start with the latter assuming control before the field hit the first turn for driver Dexter Dunn. Railee Something cut the opening fraction in :27.1 and was able to settle the pace down nicely in the second quarter, hitting the halfway marker in :56.4.

With little action coming from the rear, Railee Something and Bond pulled away from the field through the three-quarters clocked in 1:25.2 and the two locked horns in early stretch, where Bond shifted into high gear and trotted off powerfully through the :27 final quarter to win in hand. Railee Something was a solid second with Rose Run Yolanda (Yannick GingraS) rallying late for the third spot. Bravo Angel S (Tony Hall) and Blonde Bombshell (David Miller) will also return for the final having finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Owned by Svanstedt along with partners Little E LLC and L. Berg Inc., Bond was bred by Diamond Creek Farms. The millionaire filly now has 14 victories in 20 career starts.

“My plan was to sit behind Dexter [Dunn],” Svanstedt said following the race. “And it worked out.”

Bond and Special Way will have the advantage of drawing within the first five posts for the final.

The draw was conducted for the $600,000 sophomore filly final and the post positions are as follows.

Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Post - Horse
1. Special Way
2. Bond
3. Blonde Bombshell
4. Rose Run Yolanda
5. Baroness Hill
6. Bravo Angel S
7. Heaven Hanover
8. Silly Me Hanover
9. Quick Stop
10. Railee Something

Better Is Nice, Storm Shadow and Captain Albano top freshman pacing colts 

In the first of three $25,000 freshman colt pacer eliminations for the Breeders Crown, Better Is Nice flew five-wide from behind in the stretch to catch fading favourite, Newsroom, and brush off a late close by Gem Quality to win by a neck in 1:50.3 with Andrew McCarthy in the bike.

Newsroom (David Miller) pushed a scorching first quarter passing Dancin Champion’s fast start and took the top in :25.4. The pace continued with a :54.4 half as Newsroom led and Gem Quality (Dexter Dunn) went first-over with Total Stranger (Yannick Gingras) picking up cover. The field got to three-quarters in 1:23.2.

The uneven fractions got to Newsroom and he began to fade while challenged. Getting the best of the pace was Better Is Nice, who came flying late to get a neck up over Gem Quality. Newsroom hung grittily for third and Huntingforchrome (Joe Bongiorno) fourth.

McCarthy mentioned the race’s first quarter, saying, “I was pretty happy with that and was going to have to push off for the first eighth. Then I thought it might be wrong to do that. We ended up getting way back but it turned out that was not a bad place to be. [My colt] came from seventh. He has crazy amounts of speed.”

Tony Alagna trains Better Is Nice, a Bettors Wish-Thatsoveryverynice colt. Alagna Racing LLC, Pryde Stables Inc., and Birnam Wood Farms own the colt that was bred by Alagna Racing LLC and Marvin Katz. Better Is Nice has now earned $503,120. He paid $13.40 to win.

In the second division, Ontario Sires Stakes champion Storm Shadow won his third straight stakes event (at three different tracks) for trainer Ian Moore. Bob McClure steered the colt for the last two, winning this one in 1:52.

Though Storm Shadow left alertly, Boston Rocks (Tim Tetrick) rushed to take the lead in a :27 first quarter with no sign of slowing down. At the half, Boston Rocks was two lengths ahead of Storm Shadow with Captain Luke (Andrew McCarthy) pushing the third spot in a 1:25.1 third quarter. That was all Boston Rocks had to offer as he began to struggle in the stretch while Storm Shadow ate real estate to get to the wire first by a head with Captain Luke finishing  second and Boston Rocks left a tired third. Nijinsky (Dexter Dunn) was fourth.

“From what I know about him, I have nothing but good things to say," said McClure. "He's nice to drive, he's good-gaited and he's handy. Last week [in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final], he kind of fell into a nice trip but tonight he was great.”

R G McGroup, Serge Savard, Mac Nichol and Bolton Farms own Storm Shadow, a Bettors Delight-Fade colt bred by Tara Hills Stud. Storm Shadow has now earned nearly $300,000 in his first season. He paid $7.40 to win.

In the last of the freshman colt pacing elims, the stretch was a playground for Captain Albano.

The Captaintreacherous-Angelou colt was all out for driver Todd McCarthy once he put away early leader Magnifico Hanover (Brian Sears), who tried to take total control in a blazing :26.2 first quarter. Before the :55.4 half, Captain Albano dismissed the lot of them, soaring to the lead by two lengths and increasing the lead until he crossed the wire in 1:50.4, 3-1/2 lengths ahead of the late arriving Legendary Hanover (James MacDonald) with Nuclear (Andy Miller) and Noblesville (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) well out of sight.

Noblesville finished fourth and by the nature of his earnings makes the final.

Trainer Noel Daley said he “just asked Todd if he had something left and he said [Captain Albano] did it with his ears pricked. He's a very nice horse and he's gotten lucky with a bunch of nice trips lately.”

Captain Albano’s bankroll is now $288,180.

Patricia Stable, L A Express And Sjoblom Inc., and Michael Dolan own Captain Albano, who won his sixth race in a row and paid $2.80 to win. Frederick Hertrich bred the colt.

(With files from Hambletonian Society)