Nancy Takter has won 12 Breeders Crowns in her career, tied with Åke Svanstedt for the sixth most in history for a trainer, and her first two trophies came courtesy of two-year-old filly pacer JK Shesalady in 2014 and two-year-old colt pacer Captain Crunch in 2018. JK Shesalady was the 2014 Horse of the Year; Captain Crunch a 2018 divisional Dan Patch Award recipient.
On Friday (Oct. 23), Takter will go for another Grade 1 victory with a daughter of those two award-winning horses, JK Lady Liberty, in the $700,000 USD Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace. JK Lady Liberty, a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion, has five wins and two second-place finishes in seven races this season, good for $382,113 in earnings for breeder/owner 3 Brothers Stables.
Eliminations were unnecessary. JK Lady Liberty will start the Crown final from post four with driver Scott Zeron and is 9-2 on the morning line.
“I won my first two Breeders Crowns with her parents, so it would be fun to win one with her,” Takter said. “She looks a lot like her mom, and she’s gaited a lot like her mom, so she looks like her mom on the track. Her mom wasn’t a big filly, but she’s got her dad’s size, which hopefully will help her at (age) three.
“She is a super nice filly. She knows how to win; she’s very honest. She figured out what she’s supposed to do, which is nice when two-year-olds actually do that and they don’t just go through the motions.”
Takter also will send out Presidente (post eight, Dexter Dunn, 12-1) in Friday’s Breeders Crown final for two-year-old male trotters, then two finalists on Saturday: returning Breeders Crown Open Trot champion French Wine and Three-Year-Old Filly Trot morning-line favourite Shes Moni.
French Wine, a six-year-old son of Bar Hopping-Creamy Mimi, finished sixth in his elim, which came two weeks after an eighth-place finish from post nine in the Dayton Trotting Derby (G2). In his two starts prior to Dayton, he was third in Caesars Trotting Classic (G2) and second in the Maple Leaf Trot (G1) for owners Daniel Plouffe, Jean Christophe Plouffe, and One Legend Stable.
“He needed the race; he should be a lot sharper (in the final),” Takter said about French Wine, who will leave from post one with Jason Bartlett in Saturday’s $600,000 USD event and is 10-1 on the morning line. “I think if he would have gotten a little room in the Maple Leaf Trot maybe he would have won that, but he was locked in. He raced super there. He’s consistent. He is what he is. He’s a good boy and he always shows up.”
The most recent back-to-back Open Trot winner was Ecurie D DK in 2021-22.
Shes Moni has won three races in a row, including the Kentucky Filly Futurity (G1), as she heads to the $664,500 USD Breeders Crown final for sophomore filly trotters as the 5-2 morning-line choice. The daughter of Walner-Thats All Moni will start from post three with driver Yannick Gingras. She raced only once at age two but has five wins – including her elim – and three additional on-the-board finishes this season.
“She was my best filly last year training down,” said Takter, who trains Shes Moni for co-breeders/owners Brittany Farms and Marvin Katz. “Unfortunately, she had a little injury that we had to take care of and give her time off. She hasn’t had any issues from that all year, it was a matter of just getting her into racing and making up for lost time. She’s a very gifted filly, probably one of the most gifted I’ve been around.”
Climatic Hanover might still be a work in progress, but trainer Lucas Wallin thinks there is plenty to work with.
A half-sister to Dan Patch Award winner-Maryland, Climatic Hanover was the top selling yearling at last fall’s Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pa., going for $1,021,127 ($725,000 USD) to Kjell Andersen. The two-year-old daughter of Walner-Crucial has finished first twice and second three times in six races this season, with a win in the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes (G2) on Sept. 25 and a runner-up effort in her Breeders Crown elimination last week the most recent lines on her past performances.
On Friday night, she will leave from post six in the $700,000 USD Breeders Crown final for freshman filly trotters at Eldorado Scioto Downs. Todd McCarthy will handle the driving for Wallin. Climatic Hanover has the field’s second-fastest win time, 1:52.2, and $224,651 in earnings. She is 8-1 on the morning line.
“She’s still a little green, and it was her first time on a small track, but she was very good,” Wallin said about Climatic Hanover’s second-place finish behind Two Day Hangover in their Breeders Crown elim. “She probably needed the race. I think she's going to be a little better (this) week.”
Wallin acknowledged that when a yearling brings a big price, there are always going to be expectations, but Climatic Hanover’s connections were patient with their filly, starting her three times in conditioned company before moving to the Grand Circuit.
“She is Maryland’s sister, so there have been high hopes probably since the day she was born,” Wallin said. “So, it's nice to be in the Breeders Crown final with her. She's a big filly, so we took our time and kind of aimed for the second part of the season. She's been getting better and better for each start, so it's worked out pretty good for us.
“I think she's going to get even better next year. She has a lot of talent, and she's very strong. She's still maybe a work in progress, but she has unlimited talent, I think.”
Wallin will also send out longshot Putitondad’stab (Andy McCarthy, 25-1) in the race. The daughter of Walner-Spendthemoneyhoney, owned by Wiesman Farms and Harbor Racing Stable, will leave from post seven with Andy McCarthy in the sulky.
“We need some luck from there,” Wallin said. “(But) she doesn't make any mistakes. She's good gaited and very good mannered. I’m very happy with how she's been racing all year. Anything can happen in the final.”
Brady Brown made his Breeders Crown debut in last week’s eliminations for three-year-old filly trotters, and the 33-year-old driver came away with a victory behind Little Road, a $72,000 USD supplemental entry bred, owned and trained by Roger Hammer.
“To win for Roger Hammer, who won the (2005) Hambletonian, is something special,” said Brown, who will start Saturday’s final from post five and is 9-2 on the morning line. “I’ve told people that when he supplements horses into things like this, he’s not doing it just to be in it, he’s in it to make money or win.
“I don’t even think I slept (the night prior to the elim), I was that excited about it. It’s still just mind-blowing to be in it.”
Brown might again be too excited to sleep the night prior to Saturday’s final but joked it could be good luck not to change the routine.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” he said, with a laugh.
Little Road, a daughter of Fordham Road-A Little Laid Back, zipped through the passing lane after getting a trip behind 7-5 favourite Victorianas Secret in her elimination, winning by a half-length over Setyoursightshigh.
“She felt perfect,” Brown said. “As soon as I started edging her toward the passing lane, I could already feel her getting ready to hit two more gears.”
Warrawee Michelle will attempt to become the first repeat winner of the Breeders Crown Mare Trot since Manchego in 2019-20 when she goes behind the gate in this year’s $400,000 USD final on Saturday. There were no eliminations, so the five-year-old daughter of Walner-Sound Check enters the race off wins in the Dayton Oaks Derby (G1) and Miss Versatility Series (G3) final – her only two victories in nine races this season.
Six of Warrawee Michelle’s 12 career wins have come after the calendar reached Sept. 28, including a Breeders Crown championship as a two-year-old in 2023. Three female trotters have won at least three Crowns in the 42-year history of the event: Peace Corps (4) and Grades Singing and Manchego (3 each).
“She hadn’t been herself all summer, but now she’s been good again,” said trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt, who owns Warrawee Michelle with Santandrea Inc. and Young Guns. “She has changed for the better for some reason, maybe she does not like the hot weather. She’s been good in the fall every year. It could be that, when it cools down a little she comes into better form. She feels good when we train, so I hope she can do a good race.”
Warrawee Michelle will start from post six and is the 5-2 morning-line favourite.
Other horses looking for back-to-back Breeders Crown triumphs are Ervin Hanover (post nine, Dexter Dunn, 8-1) in the $662,000 USD Open Pace, Yo Tille (post 10, Todd McCarthy, 15-1) in the Mare Trot after winning at age three in 2025, The Last Martini (post one, Doug McNair, 12-1) in the $443,000 USD Mare Pace after being a dead-heat winner at three last year, and Storybook Love (post one, Todd Ratchford, 15-1) in the Three-Year-Old Filly Trot.
Twin B Joe Fresh (post six, Dexter Dunn, 6-5) could get a second trophy in the Mare Pace after being scratched from the 2025 final. She was the 2024 champion.
Scioto Downs will host all four Breeders Crown championships for 2-year-olds on Friday (Oct. 23) with the remaining eight finals to follow on Saturday. First-race post time both nights is 6 p.m. (EDT). 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. For this weekend's complete Scioto Downs entries, click one of the following links:
The team at Eldorado Scioto Downs and the Hambletonian Society are excited to welcome fans, horsemen and handicappers to the Breeders Crown this weekend – whether it is on-site or online. For those that cannot make it to the track to watch live, there are many ways to take in the festivities:
- Scioto Downs simulcast, available at your local racetrack, OTB or ADW and on RTN via streaming services such as Roku, Amazon FireStick and online at rtn.tv
- on Fox Sports 1 starting at 8 p.m. Friday
- on Fox Sports 2 starting at 7 p.m. Saturday
- Primetime Racing YouTube channel, which will be carried by Standardbred Canada, starting at 6 p.m. both days
The on-site Fox Sports coverage will be brought to you by Gabe Prewitt, Jessica Otten & Ashley Mailloux. The Primetime Racing hosts will be Emily Gaskin, Chad Rozema, Greg Blanchard & Mark McKelvie.
Handicappers have a plethora of guaranteed pools over the weekend:
Friday:
- $10,000G early Pick-5, starting in R1
- $10,000G early Pick-4, starting in R3
- $20,000G mid-card Pick-4, starting in R7
- $15,000G late Pick-5, starting in R10
- $15,000G late Pick-4, starting in R11
Saturday:
- $20,000G early Pick-5, starting in R1
- $25,000G early Pick-4, starting in R3
- $30,000G mid-card Pick-4, starting in R7
- $15,000G late Pick-5, starting in R10
- $25,000G Pick-4, starting in R11
For those that will be at Scioto Downs, there will be more than just racing to keep fans and patrons entertained throughout the evenings. A pre-race party will be held for sponsors and racing connections starting at 4:30 p.m. in between the casino and the clubhouse. Visit with Breeders Crown contenders of the past – Foiled Again, Golden Receiver, Mission Accepted & Pinkman – from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night. For families, there will be bounce houses, face painting, a petting zoo (Friday), apple cider making (Saturday) and balloon twister artists for the kids.
For those choosing to sit in the grandstand or beer garden tent, there will be various food trucks and vendors behind the grandstand, including kettle corn, bbq, burgers, gyros, tacos and dirty sodas.
(Breeders Crown)