With his flat performance a few weeks ago in Kentucky that left many wondering what happened to Well Said, his assistant trainer shed light on one of the reasons why the star pacer looked closer to ordinary than extraordinary
.
"We changed his shoes to adjust to the clay track surface in Kentucky," Toni Rose of the Steve Elliott stable told Trot Insider. "He was slipping and just couldn't grip the track."
The current form of the champion pacer is not an issue, as Rose confirmed that Well Said "trained today (Tuesday) and he was real good."
While one superstar, Muscle Hill, will make his farewell appearance on Saturday night, the same may not be true for Well Said. Rose indicated to Trot Insider that the Messenger and the Matron are still on his schedule and the talented pacer may enter those lucrative stakes.
With a victory on Saturday, Well Said could complete the Grand Slam of the most prestigious races for harness racing's sophomore pacers - The North America Cup, The Meadowlands Pace, The Little Brown Jug and the Breeders Crown. No horse has won all four races in one year.
Pegged at 8-5 in the morning line, Well Said (Artsplace-Must See) has Breeders Crown experience on his side. He capped off his two-year-old season with a sharp 1:51 score in the Breeders Crown last year at two, and has one of the most successful trainer-driver combinations in harness racing. Trainer Steve Elliott has earned over $2.5 million in Breeders Crown events, and is the ninth all-time leading trainer of Breeders Crown winners in money earnings. His six other Breeders Crown wins list some of the sport's most feared competitors from past campaigns: Sweet Reflection (1988 3-Year-Old Filly Pace), Valley Victory (1988 2-Year Colt Trot), Yankee Slide (2004 3-Year-Old Colt Trot), Burning Point (2006 Mare Pace), Donato Hanover (2006 2-Year-Old Colt Trot) and Artistic Fella (2007 Horse Pace).
Driver Ron Pierce sits third all-time in Breeders Crown earnings with over $8 million in purses, trailing only John Campbell [$19.3 million] and Mike Lachance [$11.2 million]. He has made 111 starts with 19 wins, 12 seconds and 10 thirds.
Owner Jeffrey Snyder, who shares ownership with Ontario's Sue Grange under the Lothlorien nom de course has three wins, two seconds and two thirds from 21 Breeders Crown finalists for earnings of $1,535,652. Prior to his victory last year with Well Said, Snyder's past Breeders Crown winners were Village Jolt (2004 2-Year-Old Colt Pace) and Rocknroll Hanover (2005, 3-Year-Old Colt Pace).
The Score will air a special three-hour presentation across Canada of this 25th anniversary (26th edition) of the Breeders Crown, from 8:00 - 11:00 pm ET and will telecast seven Crown races live.
For Saturday's entries, click here. To view the entries on TrackIT in past performance format, click here.