'Wrong' not only sounded right, but he looked right as well. In fact, he’s looking even better than that.
Wrong Sounds Right was one of two winners in last week’s eliminations for the $700,000 USD Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot (Grade 1) to be contested on Friday, Oct. 23 at Eldorado Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio.
It was the sixth win in eight starts (along with one second) for Wrong Sounds Right, who has banked $889,578 for New Jersey breeder/owner Scott Farber’s Runthetable Stable and trainer Jim Campbell. In his previous race, the son of Tactical Landing-Broadway Jo Ell won the Mohawk Million (Grade 1 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“He handled everything well,” said Campbell about Wrong Sounds Right’s 1:53.1 victory in this past Friday’s elimination, which was his first time racing around three turns. “That's just kind of the way he's been. Whatever we've thrown at him, he's just been a real professional and we couldn't be happier with him.
“You can race him any way you want to race him. He's a good-looking colt and he presents himself well on the track. When he goes out to warm up, he's got his ears up and he likes to race. He knows when he's at the racetrack that it's race time, and he loves to race.”
Campbell said that even though Wrong Sounds Right trained well, it’s always difficult to determine a two-year-old’s true potential when training down. Assistant Manny Quevedo did most of the horse’s training and liked how the colt went about his business.
“Manny kept saying, ‘Boy, he feels good,’” said Campbell. “We were training together and I go, ‘Yeah, he looks good too.’ He didn't do anything wrong. He's just one of those horses that did everything we asked of him, and he's still doing it.”
In his elim, Wrong Sounds Right defeated Carbon Fiber by 2-3/4 lengths with Todd McCarthy in the sulky. Jimdougie Armitage was third.
“He was super,” said McCarthy. “That was the first time that I've moved him to the front and he really liked it, and he finished up really strong.”
Following the eliminations, the draw was conducted for the final. As an elimination winner, Wrong Sounds Right was guaranteed a start spot inside of post seven. He got post six.
“That's probably a good spot,” said McCarthy. “The beauty of winning these [elimination races] is you know you’re guaranteed [posts] one through six, and anywhere in there you can try to figure out a trip.”
Campbell feels that whatever his driver figures out, the horse has the talent to handle it.
“I'm sure there's going to be a lot of speed, but my colt is very versatile,” he said. “Todd can pretty much race him any way he wants. Todd will figure that all out. The horse and Todd seem to have a great connection with each other.”
Campbell said he hasn’t altered anything with Wrong Sounds Right since May 12, when he changed his front shoes. The homebred colt enters the Breeders Crown final having won four consecutive races.
“I’m very excited about the future of this guy,” said owner Farber, who won the 2022 Hambletonian with Cool Papa Bell (also trained by Campbell and driven by McCarthy). “I've had some good ones and I’m as excited for him as I've been for any of the other ones. Homebreds are very special. We're very excited to be here.”
The other Breeders Crown elimination winner was Lifetime Dreamer for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Åke Svanstedt. Wrong Sounds Right and Lifetime Dreamer both have career-best victories in 1:51.1, tying them with Southwind Tyrion (2020) as the fastest two-year-old male trotters ever.
Wrong Sounds Right’s only loss in his past six starts was a second-place finish behind Lifetime Dreamer in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Championship on Hambletonian Day, Aug. 8, at The Meadowlands in that gelding’s 1:51.1 mile.
Sired by Ecurie D DK out of Lifetime Gift, Lifetime Dreamer sat in second for most of his elimination race before driver Yannick Gingras made an outside move down the stretch and took a three-length victory over Presidente. He won in 1:52.4, establishing a track record and equalling the world record for two-year-old gelding trotters over a five-eighths-mile track.
“He’s had a couple hiccups in between, health-wise the one start, but other than that I think he’s been tremendous this year,” said Gingras. “With a trip like this leading into the final, you couldn’t ask for anything better.
“I’m not sure if he could rough it and cut [the mile], but I think if the fractions were right, he could. Otherwise, following, as he showed, he can explode off a trip.”
Lifetime Dreamer has four wins, a second and a third in eight starts while winning $256,987. He was a $90,278 purchase at the 2025 Lexington Select Yearling Sale and is owned New Jersey's Åke Svanstedt Inc., Brittany Farms of Kentucky and Florida's Bruni Racing Team and Suleyman Yuksel Stables. The gelding will leave from the post five on Friday and is one of three Svanstedt trainees in the final along with Jimdougie Armitage and Yankee Boss.
“He is a top horse,” Svanstedt said about Lifetime Dreamer. “He has a very good attitude. He can do everything; he can leave fast and is very strong. You don’t know the attitude before you race with them, but he has gotten tougher and tougher for every race.
“He is a real racehorse. He is a world record-holder, so of course he has the speed. But what I like best is the attitude. He is a winner. You can see that in the races. Yannick [Gingras] said he just wants to win. When he pulls him, he just takes off. You don’t need to ask him; he takes off by himself.”
Scioto Downs will host all four Breeders Crown championships for two-year-olds on Friday, Oct. 23 with the remaining eight finals to follow on Saturday, Oct. 24. First-race post time both nights is 6 p.m. Friday night’s action will be aired on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) from 8-11 p.m. and Saturday’s on FOX Sports 2 (FS2) 7-10:30 p.m.
$700,000 USD Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot (Grade 1)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer
1. Yankee Boss - Tim Tetrick - Ake Svanstedt
2. Whateveritakes AS - Tony Hall - Anette Lorentzon
3. Jimdougie Armitage - Ake Svanstedt - Ake Svanstedt
4. Carbon Fiber - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke
5. Lifetime Dreamer - Yannick Gingras - Ake Svanstedt
6. Wrong Sounds Right - Todd McCarthy - Jim Campbell
7. Access Now - Bob McClure - Luc Blais
8. Presidente - Dexter Dunn - Nancy Takter
9. Top Reacher - Scott Zeron - Marcus Melander
(Breeders Crown)