A lightly-raced and fresh Split The House stepped up in a big way with a lifetime best performance in the $421,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace final to round out the championship series action for 2017 on Saturday (October 28) at Hoosier Park.
Split The House and driver Brett Miller are victorious in the Breeders Crown Open Pace at Hoosier Park Saturday night.
Leaving from Post 4, Brett Miller was eager to see Split The House forwardly placed. He had his horse on top before relenting to All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) and Keystone Velocity (Daniel Dube) through a spicy :25.4 opening quarter. Once Dube cleared with Keystone Velocity, Miller moved Split The House back to the lead and made the front. Favoured Mach It So (David Miller) right-lined from fourth to challenge for the lead and landed on top just past the :53.4 half-mile point.
The battle for the front continued to wage on as Kakaley was back out and driving with All Bets Off as McWicked (Brian Sears) stalked the leaders on the outside second over. The third quarter was reached in 1:21.1 with Mach It So and All Bets Off trading blows around the final turn and heading for home. Brett Miller angled Split The House into the passing lane and powered past the pacesetters for the deep stretch lead. McWicked gained on him with every stride but the wire was reached by Split The House first, with the mile timed in a dazzling 1:48.1. Mach It So stayed for show.
"Last week, we felt like he needed another start because he hasn't been racing and we were surprised at how good he was last week. That gave me a lot of confidence for tonight," said Miller. "My whole plan was to follow David [Miller and Mach It So]. In the middle of the first turn, I had a couple of guys out there and I had David behind me. I thought I had a shot of getting them turned loose, then getting to the front hoping David came. And it actually turned out."
Trained by Chris Oakes, Split The House won for the second time in just six seasonal starts. The five-year-old gelded son of Rocknroll Hanover - Shake That Junk is owned by Al & Michelle Crawford's Crawford Farms Racing of Syracuse, N.Y. With the win, the 12th of his career, Split The House now sports a $628,872 lifetime bankroll.
The other Breeders Crown recaps from Saturday's card at Hoosier Park can be found in the 2017 Breeders Crown News Centre.