Entries for the $6.7 million (USD) Breeders Crown events closed today (Tuesday, Oct. 18) with 174 of the sport’s top trotters and pacers entered to qualify for the rich finals on Friday, Oct. 28 and Saturday, Oct. 29 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. All purses are U.S. dollars.
Freshman Flurry On Tap For Friday Breeders Crown Eliminations
The Breeders Crown events for two-year-olds lured 66 into the entry box across the four divisions, spurring a total of seven eliminations for Friday’s (Oct. 21) card at Woodbine Mohawk Park to determine the finalists for the altogether $2.4-million freshman championship finals.
Freshman trotting colts and geldings begin proceedings in Race 2 with their first elimination, which gathers nine behind the gate. William Wellwood Memorial champ Winners Bet will look to regain his stride from a break in the Mohawk Million when the Domenico Cecere starter leaves from post nine.
Mohawk Million winner Oh Well fronts the nine aligning for the second Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot elimination, carded as Race 4. The Marcus Melander trainee competes against eight others including one trained by brother Mattias in Dire Straits, who starts from post seven.
Local star Sylvia Hanover leads the first of two eliminations for the Two-Year-Old Filly Pace, going as Race 3. Shawn Steacy trains the winner of the Shes A Great Lady who will have six competitors on the wings including Ohio Sires Stakes champ McSeaside, who starts from post seven. Proud Mary, Caviart Davia and Horizontal will all try and grab vengeance on Sylvia Hanover following their defeats in the Shes A Great Lady final.
Elimination two for the freshman pacing fillies pins eight on the gate. Kentucky standout Strong Poison escapes Twin B Joe Fresh but lands post eight against a group which includes royally-bred Bellisima Hanover, Shes A Great Lady runner-up Charleston and Nick Gallucci’s star two-year-old Savethelastdance, the last of whom will look to rebound following a loss in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final.
A single 10-horse elimination goes to gate for the Two-Year-Old Filly Trot. Ake Svanstedt trainee Special Way will look to continue to separate herself from her peers as she puts a five-race win streak on the line from post five. Her competition includes Walner Payton, who finished runner-up to Special Way four times in her last five starts; and Mambacita, who enters from back-to-back victories in Grand Circuit stakes at The Red Mile.
The two-year-old pacing colts and geldings wrap the evening’s elimination action starting with their first of two in Race 7. The 10-horse affair places Metro Pace runner-up Save America with the outermost draw as he ships north off consecutive second-place finishes. The field also gathers Lyons Surfing, fresh from a 1:50.1 win in the Bluegrass Stakes and Elevation Pace winner Ervin Hanover among others.
Metro Pace winner Stockade Seelster will also have to overcome post 10 in the second Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace elimination, slated as Race 9. The Dr. Ian Moore trainee has just one loss on his nine-race card this season and will face another near-perfect rival in Combustion, who has five wins from six starts and ships from Lexington off a 1:49.3 effort. Metro Pace elimination upsetter Tip Top Cat also competes along with Lexington upsetter Mamba and Handlelikeaporsche, the latter of whom put forth back-to-back power efforts at The Red Mile.
In the eliminations for the Two-Year-Old Filly Pace and Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace, the top-five finishers from each will advance to their respective $600,000 next Friday (Oct. 28).
Both trotting freshman events have guaranteed starters as a part of the “Win And You’re In” bonus for winning the Jim Doherty Memorial and Peter Haughton Memorial on Hambletonian Day. Jim Doherty winner Instagram Model received a bye along with Righteous Resolve to make just the top-eight finishers in the Two-Year-Old Filly Trot elimination eligible to the final. Peter Haughton winner Kilmister received a bye to the Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot, making only the top-four finishers from each elimination and the fifth-place finisher with the highest seasonal earnings (as compiled by Standardbred Canada and including elimination earnings) eligible for the final.
In the sophomore divisions, both the $600,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Trot (17), $600,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot (20) and $600,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Pace (16) will have eliminations conducted for those divisions.
The $350,000 Mare Pace with 14 entries also races two seven-horse eliminations to advance a field of 10 for Oct. 29.
Test Of Faith Will Attempt A Historical Win In Saturday's Breeders Crown Eliminations
Test Of Faith’s attempt to make Breeders Crown history will begin Saturday (Oct. 22) when she faces six foes in the first of two $25,000 eliminations of the Mare Pace at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
No female pacer has ever won a Breeders Crown at age three and returned to capture the Mare Pace the following year. Test Of Faith won last year’s event for three-year-old filly pacers at the Meadowlands on her way to being named the United States Horse of the Year.
This season, Test Of Faith has finished no worse than second in 15 of 16 races, winning ten. She has won four consecutive starts, including the Milton Stakes at Mohawk, and is ranked No. 3 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll.
Test Of Faith will leave from post seven in her Mare Pace elimination with David Miller in the sulky for trainer Brett Pelling. The top-five finishers from each elimination advance to the final on Oct. 29 at Mohawk.
The second Mare Pace elimination includes Racine Bell, who defeated Test Of Faith in the Perfect Sting Mares Open in July and starts Saturday from post five, and Fire Start Hanover, who was a Breeders Crown winner at age two in 2020 and drew post two.
Also Saturday, there will be two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations each for three-year-old female and male trotters and three-year-old male pacers. The top-five finishers from each elim advance to their respective finals on Oct. 29.
Joviality S, who won last year’s Breeders Crown for two-year-old female trotters, is among a deep group of 20 in this season’s event for three-year-olds. The most recent female trotter to win a Breeders Crown at ages two and three was Ariana G in 2016 and 2017.
Ranked No. 2 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, Joviality S starts from post nine in the second of the two elims. She has won ten of 13 races this year, including the MGM Yonkers Trot, and finished second against the boys in the Hambletonian. The second elimination also includes supplemental entry Adare Castle, who drew post 10.
The first elimination features Elegantimage winner Raised By Lindy (post one), Hambletonian Oaks champ Fashion Schooner (post two), and Kentucky Filly Futurity winner Jiggy Jog S (post five).
A total of 17 sophomore male trotters were divided into two eliminations, with Hambletonian winner Cool Papa Bell getting post eight in the nine-horse first split. The second elim includes Earl Beal Jr. Memorial winner Temporal Hanover (post one) and Canadian Trotting Classic winner Slay (post three).
In the eliminations for three-year-old male pacers, North America Cup and Tattersalls Pace winner Pebble Beach drew post five in the first of two eight-horse fields. The first elim also includes Fourever Boy, who won a Simcoe Stakes division at Mohawk in September and starts from post two.
The second elimination includes supplemental entry Bythemissal, whose 11 victories this season include the Little Brown Jug, Adios, and Milstein Memorial. He will start from post one in a group that also has Grand Circuit winners Mad Max Hanover (post two) and I Did It Myway (post five).
The following races will go straight to Oct. 29 finals: $600,000 Three-Year-Old Filly Pace (11), $600,000 Breeders Crown Trot (11), $350,000 Mare Trot (eight) and $600,000 Breeders Crown Pace (11).
Bulldog Hanover, the fastest performer in harness racing history with a mark of 1:45.4, leads a group of 11 to the Open Pace. Bulldog Hanover, the unanimous No. 1-ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, counts the Canadian Pacing Derby and William R. Haughton Memorial among his 12 victories this season.
Allywag Hanover, fresh off his upset of Bulldog Hanover in the Allerage Farms Open on Oct. 9, is also part of the field with fellow millionaires This Is The Plan, Tattoo Artist and Workin Ona Mystery. Completing the group are Lous Pearlman, Abuckabett Hanover, My Pal Joe, American Courage, Warrawee Vital and Poseidon Seelster.
Past champion Amigo Volo, who won Breeders Crown trophies at ages two and three in 2019 and 2020, will be joined by returning Breeders Crown winners Jujubee and Ecurie D DK in an 11-horse field in the Open Trot.
Also entered were 2022 Maple Leaf Trot winner Back Of The Neck, Canada’s 2019 Horse of the Year Forbidden Trade, millionaires Lindy The Great and Its Academic, and Ambassador Hanover, Rattle My Cage, Fashion Frenzie and Logan Park.
Two past Breeders Crown champions, Bella Bellini and Next Level Stuff, join multiple award-winning Atlanta, who is retiring at the end of the season, in the eight-horse field for the Mare Trot. The group also includes millionaires When Dovescry and Sorella as well as Refined, Amazone Duharas and HP Mama B.
Eleven horses were entered in the Three-Year-Old Filly Pace, including returning Breeders Crown champion and Dan Patch Award winner Niki Hill, Fan Hanover winner Treacherous Dragon, Mistletoe Shalee winner Max Contract, Lynch Memorial winner Sweet Kisses and the division’s seasonal leading money-earner Boudoir Hanover.
Completing the field are 2021 O’Brien Award winner Prohibition Legal, Queen Of Success, Just Divine, Sea Silk, Silver Label and Galleria Hanover.
Post positions will be drawn at a future date for the four events going directly to finals.
Two-year-old eliminations will be held Friday, Oct. 21 and the sophomore and open divisions requiring eliminations will race Saturday, Oct. 22. Elimination winners and Win And You’re In horses draw for inside post positions one through five. Post positions will be drawn on Friday and Saturday after the elimination races, with the exception of those races drawn at the Tuesday, Oct. 25 press conference. Post time is 7 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. for Saturday.
To view the complete entries for this weekend's Breeders Crown eliminations, click one of the following links:
- Friday, Oct. 21 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
- Saturday, Oct. 22 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
(With files from Woodbine)