The first set of Breeders Crown eliminations were contested on Friday night at Pocono Downs featuring the sport's top two-year-old filly and colt trotters and two-year-old filly pacers vying for a spot in next weekend's $5.6 million championships.
Two-year-old trotting filly Shake It Cerry (Ron Pierce) kicked off the $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations, slipping up the pylons from the pocket in the stretch to prevail in 1:54.1 by half a length over her pacesetting stablemate Lifetime Pursuit (Yannick Gingras). First over Goddess (John Campbell) edged out Struck By Lindy (David Miller) for third-place honours. Market Rally (John Cummings Jr.) finished fifth. Favourite Designed To Be (Andy Miller) broke stride early in the race taking herself out of contention.
Shake It Cerry gave way to Lifetime Pursuit at the :27.1 opening quarter and played follow-the-leader through middle splits of :58 and 1:26.2 before taking back the lead in the final strides.
“She should be coming into next week really good," said Pierce. "She hardly had to work tonight. She wanted to work a lot harder, but I made her sit in there. She’s real fussy about that, but next week we’ll be letting her trot.”
Jimmy Takter trains the winning filly, who is a daughter of 2006 Breeders Crown champion Donato Hanover out of Solveig. The Merrie Annabelle champion is now four-for-seven in her career with earnings totalling $256,369 for owner Solveigs Racing Partners of East Windsor, New Jersey.
World champion Cooler Schooner romped to a 10-3/4 length length victory in 1:52.2 in the second two-year-old trotting filly elimination for the driver/trainer team of John and Jim Campbell and owner Fashion Farms of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Scream And Shout (Tim Tetrick) and Demanding Sam (Paul MacDonell) finished second and third with Ruby (Marcus Miller) edging out Noon Tea Party (Brian Sears) for fourth.
Leaving from the inside post position, Cooler Schooner gained an uncontested lead early on with Vanity Matters (Yannick Gingras) breaking stride from the pocket around the first turn. Harley Momma (Horward Parker) also jumped it off from fourth. The leading homebred Broadway Hall-Pine Schooner filly then cruised through panels of :27.1, :55.1 and 1:24.3 en route to her fourth win of the season in 10 starts.
“She can just go so easy, nothing surprises me anymore,” said trainer Jim Campbell. “[John] looked like he was just going along where she was comfortable, but after she set that world record [of 1:51.3 in August] nothing surprises me with her.
“If she keeps her head on straight she can go with anybody. She has to repeat this type of performance next week [in the final]."
Cooler Schooner's connections were also 2002 Breeders Crown winners with her sire.
The top four finishers in both freshman trotting filly elims will advance to the final as well as the fifth-place finisher with the highest seasonal earnings, which is Market Rally.
Gallie Bythe Beach later equalled former Breeders Crown champion Economy Terror's 1:50.3 world record for two-year-old pacing fillies on a five-eighth-mile track, giving the Campbell brothers and Fashion Farms another elimination winner. She held off the pylon-skimming Southwind Silence (Matt Kakaley) to prevail by a head while Beach Body (Ron Pierce) and first over Ali Blue (Yannick Gingras) were third and fourth. Favourite Shes Da Bomb (Jody Jamieson) brushed three-wide into the final turn to finish fifth.
Gallie Bythe Beach led the first of two freshman pacing filly fields through fractions of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:22.1 en route to her sixth win of the season in 10 starts.
“This is a speed track and I wanted to be in front,” said John Campbell.
Sired by 2008 Breeders Crown champion Somebeachsomewhere out of $1.8 million-earner Galleria, the homebred filly boosted her own bankroll to $344,076.
Allstar Rating (Yannick Gingras) upset the streaking Precocious Beauty (Doug McNair) in the second two-year-old pacing filly elimination and lowered the world record to 1:50.1 in the process. Act Now (Ron Pierce) won a photo for show ahead of first over Uffizi Hanover (David Miller). Rockingcam Park (Brian Sears) was fifth.
Allstar Rating cleared to command at the :26.3 first quarter mark before favourite Precocious Beauty brushed by after getting away fourth. Precocious Beauty led the way through middle splits of :54 and 1:22.2, but Allstar Rating slipped up the pylons in the stretch to prevail by a head.
“She’s really progressed nicely and she has a world of ability,” said Gingras. “I was confident, but I didn’t know if I could beat Precocious Beauty; she’s a special filly. But I like [Allstar Rating]. She’s made only five starts and went a mile in [1]:50 and I think she’s going to go up from here.”
Ron Burke trains the Four Starzzz Shark-Credit Rating filly, who now has three wins and two seconds in five starts, including a division of the International Stallion Stakes. Her earnings soared past the $100,000 mark for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and JJK Stables LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The top four finishers in each freshman pacing filly elims will advance to the final along with the richest fifth-place finisher, Shes Da Bomb.
Heavy favourite Father Patrick (Yannick Gingras) wore down Nuncio (John Campbell) after a stretch duel to win the single elimination for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings in a world record clocking of 1:52.1. Finishing third through seventh to earn a spot in the final were Another Transcript (Corey Callahan), Expressive Action (Ron Pierce), Southwind Spirit (Brian Sears), Auspicious Hanover (Charlie Norris), and Muscle Network (Jody Jamieson). They will be joined by Credit Fashion and Don Dorado, who accepted byes.
Nuncio led a strung out field through opening fractions of :26.2 and :54 with Father Patrick reeling him in down the backstretch from the two-hole. Father Patrick moved up to confront the leader past the 1:22.4 third quarter mark and edged ahead, but Nuncio put up a fight and battled back. The pair went head-to-head down the stretch with Father Patrick eventually prevailing by one length for his eighth consecutive victory.
The former divisional world record of 1:53.2 was set by 2010 Breeders Crown champion Manofmanymissions.
The Takter stable earned another elim win as the streaking Father Patrick improved his record to 9-1-0 in 10 starts while surpassing the $500,000 earnings mark. The son of 2003 Breeders Crown champion Cantab Hall out of Gala Dream is owned by the Father Patrick Stable of East Windsor, New Jersey.
“He’s a very sound horse. I’ve been comparing him to Muscle Hill,” said Takter. “I didn’t take the bye because I didn’t want to end up with the nine-hole in the final.
“I was impressed with Nuncio. He hasn’t raced for some time and that was a big effort," he added.
Eliminations will continue on Saturday night, with a 6:30 p.m. first race post time, for two and three-year-old male pacers, three-year-old trotters of both sexes, open trotting mares, and open pacers of both sexes. Eliminations are unnecessary for the three-year-old filly pacers and open trotters with both divisions receiving nine entries.
All 12 divisional Breeders Crown finals will take place on Saturday, October 19 at Pocono Downs with a 5 p.m. first race post time.
(With quotes from Breeders Crown/Hambletonian Society)