“He’s a good horse. He can leave, he can finish if he gets a nice trip and he’s very handy to drive. They are all good horses from the Breeders Crown, but those Takter horses, they are tough horses... so we’ll see.”

There may not be a large cheering section on hand for E L Titan when he heads behind the starting gate for the $500,000 Breeders Crown on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack, but a victory in the prestigious championships would mean a whole lot to the homebred three-year-old trotting colt's connections.

Trainer Riina Rekila arrived in New Jersey Wednesday evening with E L Titan and will be joined in the paddock on Saturday night by Finnish owner Erkki Laakkonen’s son and daughter as the Scandinavian-born trainer vies for her first Breeders Crown victory.

The homebred trotter is by two-time Breeders Crown winner Muscle Hill and is out of Courtney Hall, who is a full sister to Cameron Hall, also a double 'Crown' champion.

The lightly raced colt didn’t make his first start of the year until August, just like in his two-year-old season.

“He had some issues and he had some allergies as a two-year-old early in the summer so I was thinking to wait a little bit later,” Rekila told Trot Insider. “It’s hard to make them last all season anyway so I was thinking I was going to come a little later.”

Rekila’s decision to focus on a tailored campaign for E L Titan has rewarded his connections a big bang for the buck with the colt averaging $54,370 per sophomore start, adding $380,590 to his career bankroll this year in just seven races. He heads into the Breeders Crown off back-to-back wins in the Galt Stakes at Maywood Park on Oct. 17 and the Carl Erskine Trot at Hoosier Park on Oct. 31, when he defeated divisional heavyweight Father Patrick after finishing second to him in the American National Stakes and Canadian Trotting Classic.

In fact, E L Titan is just one of two trotting colts to win against the Jimmy Takter-trained Father Patrick this year outside of his own stablemates (Nuncio and the retired Trixton).

“The last race was pretty good, I have to say that, and after the race he was very good. He didn’t complain, he was eating well and very sharp so I hope he’s as good as he was last time.

“He’s been doing well, everything has been normal. I’m just travelling with him now,” said the Campbellville, Ontario-based Rekila while en route Wednesday evening. “He’s going to go a little bit [Thursday] -- I trained him Monday so just a little bit.”

Disappointed with the post draw results, Rekila will hand the reins over to Ron Pierce in hopes that the 29-time Breeders Crown champion reinsman can work out another winning trip, this one from the 10-hole. Pierce previously drove the colt in the Erskine and American National.

“Ronnie does a great job with him...I think he gets along with almost all horses,” laughed Rekila, whose only other starter in the Breeders Crown finals was Christiana Hanover in the 2009 Two-Year-Old Filly Trot, won by Poof Shes Gone, at Woodbine Racetrack.

Race 9 - $500,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
Post - Horse
1. Datsyuk - 20-1
2. Hillustrious - 50-1
3. Nuncio - 6-5
4. Don Dorado - 20-1
5. Il Sogno Dream - 20-1
6. Father Patrick - 7-5
7. Odds On Amethyst - 20-1
8. Sumatra - 50-1
9. Harper Blue Chip - 12-1
10. E L Titan - 8-1

For Friday’s entries, click on one of the following links: program pages -- overnight sheet
For Saturday’s entries, click on one of the following links: program pages -- overnight sheet