Tequila Slammer has everything going for her heading into her Breeders Crown elimination tomorrow at Woodbine Racetrack: an inner post position, a top driver, and a boatload of heart
. Trainer John Bax told Trot Insider today that he is not worried that the filly made a break in her last start, which came during the International Stallion Stakes at the Red Mile.
The juvenile daughter of Yankee Glide had started from Post 2 in her International Stallion Stakes split, which was contested October 6. Tequila Slammer put herself right behind the eight ball early when she was on the run behind the gate.
The miscue seemed to get under Tequila Slammer's skin. The filly was on a mission the rest of the mile. She made it her priority to get herself back into contention in the opening half. Tequila Slammer charged overland and settled atop the leaders in the third quarter. She was still one length the best at the head of the lane, but would succumb to her taxing effort in the homestretch. Given the circumstances, Tequila Slammer finished a very respectable third and trotted her mile in 1:56.4.
"The driver (George Brennan) thought that she lost her concentration," Bax told Trot Insider. "I thought that she might have got there (up to the gate) a little early. She had left hard the week before.
"I sort of went from one end of the scale to the other watching that race," the horseman explained. "When she ran, I was kicking stones, but she was never really out of it. She really showed her heart with the way she raced, though. She could've easily taken herself right out of it and been dead last, but she really tried her hardest to come back and win."
Winning is something Tequila Slammer knows about. The $45,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase started off her pari-mutuel career this summer by capturing divisions of the Bud Light and Robert Stewart Stakes. After engaging top competition in the Peaceful Way Stakes, the filly was a front-stepping winner in a division of the Bluegrass Stakes down at the Red Mile. After the Bluegrass, Tequila Slammer participated in the aforementioned International Stallion Stakes split.
Bax does not expect that his filly will run behind the gate in her Crown elim, even though she will be leaving from the rail, which many consider a taboo spot for trotters at the suburban Toronto oval. Driver Paul MacDonell will be steering the filly.
"It can be (a tricky spot for trotters to start from), but Paul's had enough experience in that spot at Woodbine, so I think he'll be fine with her," Bax said.
The trainer told Trot Insider that he didn't stake Tequila Slammer too heavily this year, and opted not to race her in the New Jersey Sires Stakes. The filly did go down and tackle Grand Circuit company at the Red Mile, but even that took a bit of a physical toll. "It took a little bit out of her," Bax said. "It's a tall order going up against the big girls, but I'm hoping that she's up to the task tomorrow."
Tequila Slammer will be up against a handful of top fillies in her Friday Crown elim, which has been carded as Race 2. Merrie Annabelle and multiple stakes winner Poof Shes Gone will start from Post 2, while Spicy Wings and Impressive Kemp have drawn Posts 6 and 7, respectively.
To view a Trot Insider preview of all of the weekend's Breeders Crown eliminations at Woodbine, click here.
To view the harness racing entries for Friday's card of racing at Woodbine, click here.