The draws for post positions for the remaining four Breeders Crown divisions were finalized on Monday, Oct. 23 during a live press conference at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
The event included the official drawing of the ‘pills’ for the Three-Year-Old Colt Trot, Three-Year-Old Colt Pace, Open Trot and Open Pace, along with some interviews with the trainers of several of the horses in the highlighted races. All four of those races will be contested Saturday, Oct. 28.
Rob Fellows, trainer of Open Trot elimination winner Logan Park, was on hand at the press conference and said after his horse got post five, “You’re always worried when you come to a new track, but his form was very good. He raced huge and now he got the perfect post. For us, the draw was perfect.”
Following Logan Park’s elimination, Fellows said, “He doesn’t get to race a lot because at home there’s not enough horses sometimes for Free-For-Alls. In the Maple Leaf, we raced with them, but we can’t beat some of them. Some of them got a bye this week [including Maple Leaf winner Alrajah One IT]. We know who they are and they’re champions to try to beat.”
Ake Svanstedt-trained Alrajah One IT is the 8-5 morning-line favourite despite drawing the outside starting spot, post nine. Logan Park is the 7-2 third choice behind another Svanstedt trainee, Southwind Tyrion, at 5-2.
Newly elected U.S. Hall of Famer Jim Campbell, trainer of Open Trot finalist Take All Comers, was also interviewed by Emily Gaskin at the press conference and draw for post positions.
Campbell commented on post position seven: “The draw was OK; we didn’t want the nine-hole. There is speed on the inside, there is speed on the outside, there’s speed in the middle. I guess it all depends upon how it shakes out.”
After Take All Comers’ sixth-place finish in the elim, Campbell said, “He raced OK. He maybe could have been a little bit better, but Timmy [Tetrick] said just kind of the way the race unfolded, he wasn’t too disappointed in him. Next week is a whole new week. We’ve got a chance.”
Tattoo Artist received post three for the Open Pace and is the even-money favourite. He was one of two elimination winners, with Bythemissal, who is the 3-1 second choice.
“He was very good,” driver Louis-Phillippe Roy said about the Ian Moore-trained Tattoo Artist. “I didn’t let him pace very much until we had the open stretch. I didn’t know if Backstreet Shadow had a lot of horse on my back. I didn’t want to get mine tired for no reason. When I let him pace the last eighth [of a mile], he was just flying.”
Tactical Approach, winner of the Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity, drew post 10 for the Three-Year-Old Colt Trot and is the 5-2 favourite. Elimination winners Up Your Deo and Celebrity Bambino drew posts three and one, respectively, and are 7-2 and 9-2. Tactical Approach finished second to Up Your Deo in his elim.
“He beat all the horses he could see,” said Tactical Approach’s trainer Nancy Takter. “He didn’t see [Up Your Deo] on the inside, so he raced good.”
The No. 1-ranked Standardbred in North America, Confederate, is the 3-5 favourite in the final for three-year-old male pacers. An elimination winner, he will leave from post four.
After his elim, driver Tim Tetrick told Bob “Hollywood” Heyden, “I just kind of put him in fourth or fifth. I knew David [Miller, Stockade Seelster] was in there and I knew he was going to the lead so the fractions were going to be decent. Going into the last turn, I wanted to get kind of close to him then Dougie [Doug McNair, Huntinthelastdolar] followed me for a ways and when it was time he went to work. My colt got the job done right.
“He’s a war horse, what he went through there was pretty amazing [in his race prior to the elimination], to go out there and be parked :53 to the half. He’s just a champion. I just can’t say enough good things about him.”
His trainer, Brett Pelling, also commented on the nature of his star equine athlete: “I thought he raced terrific [in the elimination]. Being out on that last turn wasn’t a great place to be. He changes speed so quickly, he put in a couple of steps in the middle of the turn. I think with a run over the track, he’ll come back again next week and know more of what he’s doing.”
Below are those post positions and morning line odds for this weekend’s finals.
Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Trot (Race 11)
Post - Horse - Morning Line Odds
1. Celebrity Bambino - 9-2
2. Ari Ferrari J - 8-1
3. Up Your Deo - 7-2
4. Kilmister - 15-1
5. Helpfirstedition - 5-1
6. Air Power - 12-1
7. Osceola - 30-1
8. French Wine - 6-1
9. Dire Straits - 30-1
10. Tactical Approach - 5-2
Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Pace (Race 13)
Post - Horse - Morning Line Odds
1. Cannibal - 6-1
2. Stockade Seelster - 15-1
3. El Rey - 8-1
4. Confederate - 3-5
5. Coach Stefanos - 8-1
6. Huntinthelastdolar- 30-1
7. Admiral Hill - 30-1
8. Command - 15-1
9. Its My Show - 10-1
10. Ammo - 20-1
Breeders Crown Open Trot (Race 14)
Post - Horse - Morning Line Odds
1. Delayed Hanover - 20-1
2. Its Academic - 6-1
3. Southwind Tyrion - 5-2
4. Pretender - 20-1
5. Logan Park - 7-2
6. Lovedbythemasses - 30-1
7. Take All Comers - 12-1
8. Kildare King - 30-1
9. Alrajah One IT - 8-5
10. Rattle My Cage - 20-1
Breeders Crown Open Pace (Race 15)
Post - Horse - Morning Line Odds
1. Lous Pearlman - 20-1
2. Bythemissal - 3-1
3. Tattoo Artist - 1-1
4. Ponda Warrior - 12-1
5. Abuckabett Hanover - 20-1
6. Charlie May - 10-1
7. Taurasi - 12-1
8. Linedrive Hanover - 20-1
9. Chase H Hanover - 30-1
10. Allywag Hanover - 6-1
The 2023 Breeders Crown will mark the 40th edition of harness racing’s $7.2 million championship event. The two-year-old Breeders Crown finals will highlight the 15-race card on Friday evening, Oct. 27, while the sophomore and open competitors will take centre stage on Saturday evening, Oct. 28. Post time for both nights is 6 p.m. (EDT).
For complete coverage of 2023 Breeders Crown events, including last weekend's elimination races, click here.
(With files from Breeders Crown)