Trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt wound Warrawee Michelle off the pegs in the straightaway to collar her tempo-setting stablemate and hold off a swarm of late pursuers to win the $700,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday night (Oct. 27).

Starting from post four, Svanstedt settled Warrawee Michelle into a gap from third while her stablemate Senorita Palema (Yannick Gingras) raced keenly on the point to a :27.3 first quarter with Sugar Instead (Ronnie Gillespie) sitting the pocket. Senorita Palema managed to slow the tempo to a :57.2 half and the field began to bunch to the far turn, prompting Svanstedt to make his move.

Warrawee Michelle motored first-over through the final turn and loomed to match strides with Senorita Palema past three-quarters in 1:25.2. Senorita Palema folded into the eighth pole, leaving Warrawee Michelle to the lead as late bursts of speed came from Soiree Hanover (Tim Tetrick) and Buy A Round (Andy McCarthy) down the center of the track. The pair kept gaining to the beam, but Warrawee Michelle maintained the advantage to the finish, winning by a head in 1:53.4. Soiree Hanover finished second with Buy A Round taking third and Drawn Impression (Louis-Philippe Roy) in fourth.

“She loves to fight and she doesn’t give up until I tell her we’re done, then she’s done,” said Svanstedt. “I had a good position and the speed was OK in the race, but she’s a great horse and can leave fast. She’s strong both mentally and physically.”

Collecting her fourth win from nine starts, Warrawee Michelle has now banked $478,125 for owners Ake Svanstedt Inc., Santandrea Inc., and Young Guns. Warrawee Farm of Rockwood, Ont. bred the daughter of Walner-Sound Check, a $200,000 yearling purchase from the 2022 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Sent off as the 3-2 favourite, she paid $5 to win.

The victory by Warrawee Michelle gave trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt back-to-back victories in the Two-Year-Old Filly Trot, which he won last year with eventual Dan Patch divisional winner Special Way. He is the first trainer to win this event in back-to-back years since Jimmy Takter’s 'threepeat' in 2015 through 2017 and the first driver to win in back-to-back years since Yannick Gingras’s four straight wins from 2014 through 2017.  

A replay of this race can be viewed as part of the archived Friday card live stream, available here.

(With files from Breeders Crown)