Harness racing's best will battle in the 2025 Breeders Crown eliminations this weekend at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with seven groups of two-year-olds going forward on Friday, Oct. 17 and eight eliminations for three-year-olds and open horses to be contested on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Undefeated Canadian pacing sensation Beau Jangles, ranked number five in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, will lead the way in Friday's seven $34,250 eliminations for two-year-olds.
Beau Jangles will be among 58 freshmen competing in Friday’s eliminations. Four two-year-olds will advance directly to their finals: male trotter Apex, thanks to his victory in the Peter Haughton Memorial; Atlantic Summer, courtesy of her win in the Jim Doherty Memorial; and bye recipients Daya and Seaside Shuffle in the event for female pacers. The byes were offered based on earnings.
All two-year-old Breeders Crown Finals, each with a purse of $700,000 USD, will be held on Friday, Oct. 24 at Mohawk. The finals for three-year-olds, worth $600,000 USD each, along with the $600,000 USD Open Trot and Open Pace and the $400,000 USD Open Mare events, are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25. Elimination winners, as well as Apex and Atlantic Summer, will draw for post positions one through six in their respective finals. All other finalists will be placed in an open draw for the remaining post positions.
Sixteen freshman male pacers were entered in this year’s Breeders Crown, presented by Toyo Tires and TreadXperts, requiring two eight-horse eliminations. The top five finishers from each elim will advance to the final.
Beau Jangles, a perfect 10-for-10 for trainer Dr. Ian Moore and driver Bob McClure, will leave from post two in the second elimination. The son of Cattlewash-Mrs Major Hill won the Grade 1 Metro Pace on Sept. 20 at Mohawk and captured his Ontario Sire Stakes Super Final last Saturday over the same oval. The colt has earned $1,192,125. Frantic Hanover, a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion who finished second to Beau Jangles in the Metro, will start from post three in the same elim. The Ron Burke trainee will have Tim Tetrick in the sulky. Burke will also send out Kentucky Sire Stakes champ Ubrute in the same elimination, leaving from post seven.
New York Sire Stakes and Big Apple champion Fragment will start from post four in the first elimination for the male pacers, with Jason Bartlett driving for trainer Per Engblom. Grand Circuit winners Brandon Blvd, with Dexter Dunn driving for Andrew Harris, and Al Papi, with Yannick Gingras driving for Burke, will leave from posts one and two, respectively. Al Papi became the all-time fastest freshman pacing colt with his 1:48.1 victory in his most recent race, a division of the International Stallion Stakes on Oct. 4 at The Red Mile.
Twelve two-year-old filly pacers were entered in the Breeders Crown, necessitating one elimination from which the top eight finishers will join Daya and Seaside Shuffle in the final.
Burke-trained speedster Loua Dipa, the fastest freshman filly in history after her 1:48 win in a division of the International Stallion Stakes on Oct. 3 at The Red Mile, will leave from post six with driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. She also counts the Grade 1 Shes A Great Lady among her victories, which she captured in a Canadian-record 1:49.1 in September at Mohawk. The field also includes Grand Circuit winner Im A Lou Lou (PP10, Tetrick) and Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final runner-up Shes A Bulldog (PP2, McClure), also both members of the Burke Brigade.
Two eliminations are on tap for the two-year-old male trotters. Thirteen of the 14 freshmen entered will compete in the elims, with the top four finishers from each split plus the fifth-place finisher with the highest earnings as calculated by Standardbred Canada advancing to join Apex in the final. Elimination winners along with Apex draw for post positions one through six in the final.
Grade 1 Mohawk Million runner-up (behind Apex) and Kentucky Championship Series winner Endurance will compete in the second elim and leave from post one with Andy McCarthy at the lines for trainer Chris Beaver. Mr Big Spender, coming off a 1:51.2 win for trainer Norm Parker on Sept. 25 in a division of the Bluegrass, which equalled the second-fastest mile ever by a freshman trotting colt, will start from post six in the other elimination with Mike Wilder at the lines.
Marcus Melander trainees Nix Nacken (PP6, Scott Zeron) in the second elim and Spencer Hanover (PP2, Jason Bartlett) in the first elim are both heading into Friday’s action off victories. Nix Nacken won a division of the International Stallion Stakes and Spencer Hanover won the Big Apple male trot at Vernon Downs in a track-record 1:52.3.
Twenty freshman trotting fillies were entered in the Breeders Crown, requiring two eliminations. Nineteen of the fillies will compete in the elims, with the top four finishers from each split plus the fifth-place finisher with the highest earnings as calculated by Standardbred Canada advancing to join Atlantic Summer in the final. Elimination winners along with Atlantic Summer draw for post positions one through six in the final.
Bingo Night, fresh off her Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final triumph last week, will start from post five for driver Tyler Jones and trainer Dustin Jones in the second elimination. She finished second in the Grade 1 Peaceful Way on Aug. 23 at Mohawk. Melander-trained Nezuko Kamado S brings a three-race win streak to the elim and will leave from post one with Zeron in the bike. Her triumphs include the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes and Big Apple filly trot.
The other elimination has Ohio Sire Stakes champion and Kentucky Championship Series runner-up Setyoursightshigh starting from post four with Dunn listed to drive for Melander. Southwind Chaska, with three straight Grand Circuit scores for trainer Jim Oscarsson, will leave from post three with driver Tim Tetrick. She is the season’s fastest trotting filly, with a mark of 1:51.4.
The undefeated Louprint will begin his Breeders Crown title defence in the second elimination for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Saturday, heading 17 hopefuls across two elims. The Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer ridgling, coming off a 1:46.3 showing in the Grade 2 Tattersalls Pace at The Red Mile, is 10-for-10 this year with victories in the Grade 1 North America Cup, Grade 1 Little Brown Jug, and his Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final. Wrenn will take the lines from post seven for conditioner Burke. Looking to take down the sport’s top-ranked horse are Hempt Memorial and New York champion Dandy Ideal (PP5, Bartlett), Cane Pace winner Captain Optimistic, (PP3, Zeron), and Ontario champion Crack Shot (PP9, Doug McNair).
Adios Pace and Milstein Memorial winner Prince Hal Hanover drew post six in the first elimination and will take on seven rivals. The Dr. Ian Moore-trained colt has won six of 16 appearances this season, including the Bluegrass in a lifetime-best 1:47.2 at The Red Mile on Sept. 27. Todd McCarthy will handle the driving. His opponents include Kentucky champion Sippinonsearoc (PP8, Gingras) and Madden Oaks (PP2, Louis-Philippe Roy), who won the Meadowlands Pace when Prince Hal Hanover was placed behind him for interference.
Twelve entries to the Open Trot required a single elimination, from which the top eight will advance to join bye recipients Periculum and Southwind Coors. Lexus Kody, on a four-race streak of major stakes victories, will start from the inside post for driver Gingras and trainer Burke. The seven-year-old gelding became Canada’s fastest trotter ever with his Grade 1 Maple Leaf Trot victory in 1:49.1 on Aug. 30, then won the Grade 1 Yonkers International Trot, Grade 2 Caesars Trotting Classic in a dead heat, and Grade 2 Dayton Trotting Derby last out. Amigo Volo will seek his third Breeders Crown victory — and first since 2020 — as the eight-year-old, who recently won an Open at Mohawk, starts from post eight for driver MacDonald. Other contenders include Spirit of Massachusetts and Miecuna Invitational champ Up Your Deo and Hill Memorial winner Hillexotic.
The filly trotters will lead off the eight $34,250 three-year-old eliminations with 18 horses entered across two divisions. Kentucky champion and Delmonica Hanover winner Yo Tillie, coming off her first defeat of the season, will start from post six in the second elimination. Andy McCarthy will steer the sophomore, who is ranked fourth in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, for trainer Harris. She will face Stormont Beautiful (PP5, McClure), the lone supplement to this year’s Breeders Crown, and Kentucky Filly Futurity runner-up R Dutchess (PP9, Tetrick).
Kentucky Filly Futurity winner Delaney Hanover, the lone horse to beat Yo Tillie this year, leads the first elimination for driver Zeron and trainer Lucas Wallin. The filly, who was third in the Hambletonian Oaks, will start from post four. She will battle with local contenders Lasting Dream (PP2, Roy), winner of the Elegantimage for Team Determination, and Monalishi (PP3, James MacDonald), coming off an Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final victory.
Miki And Minnie and Chantilly will square off again in the elimination for three-year-old pacing fillies, which received 12 entries. The top eight finishers will advance to the final, joining Rodeo Drive Deo and The Last Martini, who took byes. Miki And Minnie has won 10 of 12 starts this year, including the Fan Hanover Stakes, Silverman Memorial, Lynch Memorial, Shady Daisy, and her Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final. The Chris Ryder-trained filly, a defending Crown champion, is coming off her second seasonal defeat, in which she was collared late by Looksgoodinloulou in the Kentucky Championship Series Final. Dunn will pilot the sport’s seventh-ranked horse from post two.
Chantilly enters the contest after a victory in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final in 1:50.1, which was preceded by an eight-length romp in a Gold event. She lost her one matchup with Miki And Minnie this season, a second-place finish in the Lynch. The Nick Gallucci/Millar Farms entrant drew post nine and has regular driver MacDonald aboard. The field also includes Looksgoodinloulou (PP8, Gingras) and Saturday’s Grade 3 Courageous Lady winner Sammy Jo Hanover (PP10, Tetrick).
Ervin Hanover headlines the two eliminations, containing 19 entrants, for the Open Pace. The Dave Menary-trained stallion will look to extend his win streak to four in the first elimination after victories in the Dayton Pacing Derby, a Free For All at Mohawk, and the Ewart Memorial. The five-year-old was also second in the Canadian Pacing Derby in August and is eight-for-14 overall this year. Roy will drive the stallion from post two. Aria Invitational and Kane Memorial champion Captain Albano (PP3, Todd McCarthy) and 2024 North America Cup winner Nijinsky (PP4, Roy) are among his eight rivals.
The second elimination includes Ken Hanover (PP5, David Miller), a four-time Grand Circuit winner this year coming off a win in the Allerage, Canadian Pacing Derby and William R. Haughton Memorial champion Maximus Miki (PP6, Zeron), defending titlist Coach Stefanos (PP8, MacDonald), and double-millionaire Abuckabett Hanover (PP7, Dunn).
Three of the events received fewer than 10 entries and went directly to finals.
Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6:35 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Friday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park // Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park // Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).
(Hambletonian Society & Standardbred Canada)