A total of 174 horses on Tuesday (Oct. 18) were entered for the $6.2-million Breeders Crown championships at New Jersey’s Meadowlands Racetrack. Harness racing’s top-ranked stars, Wiggle It Jiggleit and Always B Miki, lead the list of entrants, as the battle for U.S. Horse of the Year hits the homestretch. It is the largest number of Breeders Crown entries in five years.
Breeders Crown finals for older pacers and trotters will be held Oct. 28 at the Meadowlands, and the championships for two and three-year-old pacers and trotters will follow on Oct. 29.
Eliminations are unnecessary for the Breeders Crown Open Pace, Open Trot and Mare Trot, so those horses will advance directly to their respective finals.
Eliminations for the Mare Pace and two-year-old filly trotters will be Friday, Oct. 21, and eliminations for the remaining two and three-year-old trotters and pacers will be Saturday, Oct. 22, all at the Meadowlands. The top five finishers from each elimination advance to their respective finals.
Post positions for the Open finals will be drawn live Friday, Oct. 21, and posts for the two and three-year-old finals will be drawn Saturday, Oct. 22. Elimination winners draw for posts one through five for the finals.
All finals for two-year-olds go for $600,000, the richest purses offered for the age group in North America, and the three-year-old championships go for $500,000.
Wiggle It Jiggleit, who was the 2015 Horse of the Year and is the No. 1-ranked horse in the current Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, was supplemented to the Breeders Crown Open Pace for $50,000. The four-year-old gelding will meet nine foes in the race, including archrival Always B Miki, who is ranked No. 2 in the sport’s Top 10.
Owned by George Teague Jr. Inc. and the Teague Racing Partnership, Wiggle It Jiggleit has won 38 of 50 career races and earned $3.81 million (U.S.). His earnings are a record for any North American pacer prior to the age of five and with a win in the $421,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace he would join Foiled Again, Gallo Blue Chip, and Mister Big as the only North American pacers with at least $4 million (U.S.) in purses.
Always B Miki, who won the Breeders Crown Open Pace in 2015 at Woodbine Racetrack, is the fastest horse in harness racing history thanks to his 1:46 win in the Allerage on Oct. 9 at Lexington’s Red Mile. A five-year-old horse, Always B Miki is owned by Bluewood Stable, Roll The Dice Stable, and Christina Takter. He has won 27 of 50 career races and earned $2.29 million (U.S.) in purses.
Wiggle It Jiggleit, a son of Mr Wiggles trained by Clyde Francis, and Always B Miki, a son of Always A Virgin trained by the Breeders Crown’s winningest trainer, Jimmy Takter, have met seven times this year, with each winning on three occasions. The only other horse to win a race featuring both Wiggle It Jiggleit and Always B Miki is Shamballa, who bested that duo in the U.S. Pacing Championship on Aug. 6 at the Meadowlands.
Shamballa also is entered in the Open Pace. Rounding out the 10-horse field in alphabetical order are All Bets Off, Americanprimetime, Dealt A Winner, Luck Be Withyou, Mach It So, Melmerby Beach, and Split The House.
Always B Miki, Americanprimetime, Dealt A Winner, Luck Be Withyou, Mach It So, and Split The House will compete Friday in an Open at the Meadowlands.
Following is a look at the remainder of the Breeders Crown fields, starting with the rest of the Open divisions.
$250,000 MARE PACE: The only Open division with eliminations, the Mare Pace attracted a group of 14 horses. Lady Shadow, who leads all older female pacers in earnings this season with $618,481 (U.S.), won the Golden Girls and Lady Liberty at the Meadowlands earlier this year. Her nine victories this season also include the Milton and Roses Are Red. Solar Sister, who has hit the board in 12 of 14 races this year, won the Artiscape and finished second in the Golden Girls and Lady Liberty. Divine Caroline was the 2015 Breeders Crown three-year-old filly champ.
Elimination One
1. Katie Said
2. Solar Sister
3. Imagine Dragon
4. Sassa Hanover
5. Divine Caroline
6. Yagonnakissmeornot
7. Frost Damage Blues
Elimination Two
1. Venus Delight
2. Bedroomconfessions
3. Devil Child
4. Lady Shadow
5. Regil Elektra
6. Bettor Be Steppin
7. Skippin By
$500,000 OPEN TROT: Five-year-old horse Resolve tops a group of nine horses that will advance directly to the final. He heads to the event off back-to-back wins in the Maple Leaf Trot and Yonkers International Trot. The Ake Svanstedt-trained son of Muscle Hill has won five of 11 races this year and finished second in the Elitlopp. He has earned $1.19 million (U.S.) this season. He finished second to Creatine in last year’s Open Trot.
The full field for the Open Trot in alphabetical order appears below
Centurion ATM
Crazy Wow
Crescent Fashion
Flanagan Memory
Il Sogno Dream
JL Cruze
Lookslikeachpndale
Resolve
Windsun Revenge
$250,000 MARE TROT: There are three Breeders Crown champions among the eight older female trotters that will advance directly to the Mare Trot final. Two-time Breeders Crown winners Bee A Magician and Shake It Cerry are joined by last year’s Mare Trot champ D One in the accomplished group.
The Nifty Norman-trained Bee A Magician, a six-year-old daughter of Kadabra, returned from an injury layoff to win last Saturday’s Yonkers Invitational and improve to 4-for-4 this year. She was a Breeders Crown winner at ages three and four and Horse of the Year in 2013.
Shake It Cerry, a five-year-old daughter of Donato Hanover from the stable of trainer Jimmy Takter, was a Breeders Crown winner at ages two and three and Trotter of the Year in the U.S. in 2014. Sweden’s D One, a six-year-old daughter of Donato Hanover trained by Roger Walmann, spent the year overseas before returning to the U.S. to defend her Mare Trot title.
Also entered in the Mare Trot is Hannelore Hanover, a four-year-old daughter of Swan For All who has won 15 of 18 races this season and earned $896,111 (U.S.) for trainer Ron Burke. Her triumphs include the Hambletonian Maturity and Fresh Yankee at the Meadowlands plus the Centaur Trotting Classic, Armbro Flight, and Muscle Hill Stakes.
Completing the Mare Trot field are Barn Doll, Charmed Life, Classical Annie, and I’m So Fancy.
THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT/GELDING TROT: Marion Marauder, harness racing’s ninth Trotting Triple Crown winner, and 2015 Breeders Crown winner Southwind Frank lead a group of 16 horses. Bar Hopping was the winner of the Canadian Trotting Classic.
Elimination One
1. Blenheim
2. Marion Marauder
3. Southwind Frank
4. Iron Mine Bucky
5. Double L Lindy
6. Lagerfeld
7. Desert Runner
8. Sutton
Elimination Two
1. Southern Cross
2. Love Matters
3. Dominion Beach
4. Muscle Hustle
5. Winter Harbor
6. Bar Hopping
7. Dante
8. Waitlifter K
THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT/GELDING PACE: Seasonal millionaires Betting Line and Racing Hill are among the 16-horses entered here, along with Boston Red Rocks, who won last year’s Breeders Crown for two-year-old male pacers. Betting Line has won 14 consecutive starts since a second-place finish in his seasonal debut.
Elimination One
1. Racing Hill
2. Lindy Beach
3. Dr J Hanover
4. Big Top Hanover
5. Boston Red Rocks
6. Fine Diamond
7. Check Six
8. Lyons Snyder
Elimination Two
1. Betting Line
2. Manhattan Beach
3. American Passport
4. Stolen Glimpse
5. Western Fame
6. Katies Rocker
7. JJ Flynn
8. Fernando Hanover
THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROT: All The Time, who won last year’s Breeders Crown for two-year-old female trotters and this year’s Hambletonian Oaks, returns from colic surgery that sidelined her for two months. Also among the 19 fillies are Kentucky Filly Futurity winner Broadway Donna, newly minted Ontario Sires Stakes champion Emoticon Hanover, and Oaks runner-up Caprice Hill.
Elimination One
1. Fad Finance
2. All The Time
3. Side Bet Hanover
4. Spicedbourbongirl
5. Caprice Hill
6. Dewdle All Day
7. Worldclass Hanover
8. Non Stick
9. Gin And Lindy
Elimination Two
1. Celebrity Eventsy
2. Royal Charm
3. Windowshopper
4. Emoticon Hanover
5. Dancing In Thehall
6. Double Exposure
7. Lookin Sharp
8. Flowers N Song
9. Earn Your Wings
10. Broadway Donna
THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE: Six of the seven richest three-year-old female pacers this season – Pure Country, Darlinonthebeach, L A Delight, Call Me Queen Be, Blue Moon Stride, and Newborn Sassy – are among the 14 fillies entered. Division leader Pure Country won last season’s Breeders Crown for two-year-old filly pacers.
Elimination One
1. Dime A Dance
2. Kiss Me Onthebeach
3. Right Stuff
4. Call Me Queen Be
5. Darlinonthebeach
6. Pure Country
7. L A Delight
Elimination Two
1. Lindwood Beachgirl
2. Wishy Washy Girl
3. Penpal
4. Blue Moon Stride
5. Rock Me Baby
6. Skinny Dipper
7. Newborn Sassy
TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT/GELDING TROT: Peter Haughton Memorial and New Jersey Sire Stakes champion What The Hill, New York Sire Stakes champion Devious Man, Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Giveitgasandgo, and world-record-setting Walner are among 20 horses entered.
Elimination One
1. Devious Man
2. Dover Dan
3. What The Hill
4. Mountain Of Love
5. Walner
6. Giveitgasandgo
7. New Jersey Viking
8. Sir John F
9. Long Tom
10. Southwind Cobra
Elimination Two
1. Another Chapter
2. Bills Man
3. Sortie
4. Fly On
5. Jake
6. Southwind Woody
7. Snowstorm Hanover
8. Moonshiner Hanover
9. Ebury Street
10. Quadrangle
TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT/GELDING PACE: Multiple-stakes-winners Huntsville and Downbytheseaside, who on Oct. 8 both equalled the world record of 1:49 for a two-year-old pacer in capturing divisions of the International Stallion Stakes, are among 17 horses hoping to reach this Breeders Crown final. Huntsville brings a four-race win streak to the eliminations and has been no worse than second in eight career starts. Downbytheseaside, who finished second to Huntsville in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship, has won three in a row.
Elimination One
1. Miso Fast
2. Ocean Colony
3. Odds On Delray
4. Ozone Blue Chip
5. McThriller
6. Macs Jackpot
7. Photobombr Hanover
8. Huntsville
Elimination Two
1. Pointomygranson
2. Blood Line
3. Boogie Shuffle
4. Filibuster Hanover
5. Western Hill
6. Downbytheseaside
7. Summer Side
8. Normandy Beach
9. Rock The Boat
TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROT: Once-beaten Ariana G, who leads all two-year-old trotters in purses with $438,967, will try to follow in the hoof prints of full sister All The Time as a Breeders Crown champion. Ariana G’s only setback in nine starts came when she went off stride.
Elimination One
1. Ariana G
2. Broadway Idole
3. Magic Presto
4. Voxy
5. Temple Ruins
6. Chezatter
7. Princess Aurora
8. Sunshine Delight
Elimination Two
1. Treviso
2. Evelyn
3. Ice Attraction
4. Feed Your Head
5. Hillarmbro
6. Thats All Moni
7. Cameron Hill
TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACE: Multiple-stakes-winner Idyllic Beach, who has won seven of 10 races and never been worse than second, leads a group of 16. Two of the fillies to hand her setbacks, Agent Q in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship and Roaring To Go in a division of the Bluegrass Stakes, also are entered.
Elimination One
1. Brazuca
2. Agent Q
3. Thats The Ticket
4. Everyones Watching
5. Happy Hannah
6. Awash
7. Roaring To Go
8. Idyllic Beach
Elimination Two
1. Gemmas Beach Girl
2. Misqued
3. V String
4. Rockette
5. Tori Hanover
6. Blameitonthenight
7. Someomensomewhere
8. Jayes A Lady
(Breeders Crown)