After two weeks of elimination races, the fields are set for the Virginia Breeders Fund Three-Year-Old Championships, which will take place on Saturday, May 23 at Shenandoah Downs.

The four title bouts each feature a full field of eight with combined purse money of $439,900 USD. They are scheduled as Races 1, 3, 5 and 7 on the 14-race card, which gets underway at 1:05 p.m.

Headlining the $107,800 USD filly pace is Frank Chick's Caviart Daisy, who was stellar in her eliminations. The daughter of Sweet Lou-Caviart Darlin cut the mile in both prelims and established a new divisional track mark of 1:53.1 in the first. The Jamie Sullivan trainee, who was driven by Tony Morgan in both outings, won the second elim in 1:53.2. A Virginia champion at two, Caviart Daisy enters the final with $313,754 in purse earnings.

Other filly pace elimination winners were Meemaws Column and More Than Better. The former, owned and trained by Ron Millman, wired a four-horse field in 1:56.3 this past Sunday with Russell Foster aboard. The Sports Column-Southwind Wichita filly finished second to More Than Better in a first-week elimination. Corey Braden piloted More Than Better, a daughter of More The Better N-Aristobrat Hanover, to the 1:56.3 first-round win and a third on Sunday, 3-3/4 lengths behind Caviart Daisy. She is trained by Herman Hagerman and owned by Hagerman Racing.

Four different male pacers got their pictures taken in the two early rounds. Ramona Gillespie's defending Virginia Breeders champ Caviart Trenton, Lawrence Cooper's Caviart Hartley, William Hart's Caviart Cadet and Dr. Edward Ward's Caviart Sheridan were all victorious in the eliminations and will battle in Saturday's $109,300 USD final.

The fastest elim time was authored by Caviart Hartley, who came from behind in deep-stretch last Sunday to catch Caviart Cadet at the wire in 1:54. Driver Fern Paquet Jr. led the winning effort for the Tall Dark Stranger-Caviart Heather colt, trained by Cooper. Caviart Trenton also won his division on Sunday in 1:55.1, which followed a runner-up outing a week prior. Eric Davis drove the son of Captain Crunch-Caviart Tempest on both occasions for trainer Janet Davis. Caviart Cadet also snagged a win and second in the series, registering a winning mile of 1:58.2. The Britney Dillon-trained son of Tall Dark Stranger-Caviart Christa was driven by Tony Morgan in both. Caviart Sheridan, a Tall Dark Stranger-Caviart Spring gelding, kicked off the series in fine form with a 1:55.1 victory for trainer Tracy Bradshaw and driver Nick Roland. On Sunday, he finished third and was disqualified to fifth.    

The quickest trotting mile over the past two weekends came from Cherrys Girl, who wired the field Saturday in 1:58.2 with trainer/driver Logan Ebersole aboard for Thestable Cherrys Girl and Hutchinson Harness LLC. The Captain Corey-Cherry Lovin filly, who took a mark of 1:57 at two at the Delaware County Fair, was a full length better than Kokono.

The other filly trot Breeders Fund elimination winners were Honolugoo, trained by Scott Betts for Timothy Betts and Shanamphilankilou Inc. and Scott Woogen's duo of Progressivekathy and Caviart Gemma, both trained by Ron Millman. The latter, a daughter of Captain Corey-Gossip Hanover driven by Paquet, finished second in her first-round clash but was elevated to first in 2:00.2 after initial winner Honolugoo was placed second. Honolugoo, a daughter of Googoo Gaagaa-Hawaiian Photograph, won her second-round dash in 1:59.1 with Scott Betts in the bike. Progressivekathy, by Il Mago-Progressive Caviar, won in her first elimination in 2:00 with Russell Foster aboard.

Cindy Loo Goo produced the fastest mile among the male trotters, crossing the line in 1:59.2 with Russell Foster in the sulky in his first elimination. The Scott Betts trainee went outside at the quarter mark, sprinted to the lead, and coasted home to an open-length win as the betting choice for Timothy Betts and Shanamphilankilou Inc. On Saturday, the son of Googoo Gaagaa-Hs Carry On finished second to Tremaine Harding's Harding Boy, who won in 2:01.1 with Paquet at the controls. Harding Boy, a Gregory Pecs-Caviar Call Girl gelding, is trained by Mike Whitaker.

The other male elimination winners were Kalispel and Ahtohallan, conditioned by Bob McKim and Scott Betts, respectively. The former, who did not compete in round two, wired the field on May 9 in 2:01. Koltin Noble handled the driving of the Greogry Pecs-Speedy Kim Mindale gelding for owner McKim. Ahtohallan powered to an open-length triumph on May 16 in 1:59.4, with Russell Foster guiding the son of Googoo Gaagaa-Redwhitenbluestone for Timothy Betts and Shanamphilankilou Inc.

The filly trot final has a $111,100 USD purse, and the colts and geldings will go for $111,700 USD.

After Saturday's "Day of Champions" card, Shenandoah Downs will wrap up its spring season on Sunday, with a 13-race program beginning at 1:05 p.m. The annual fall harness campaign will run from Sept. 19 - Nov. 1.

(With files from Shenandoah Downs)