Dr. Ian Moore is one of two Canadian trainers with three 2022 Breeders Crown starters, and the veteran horseman could surpass his previous best year for earnings with a big weekend from his talented trio.
Moore, who sports a 0.303 training average by virtue of a 37-40-37 summary from 221 starts with $2,095,563 in seasonal earnings, spoke glowingly of the team behind him and the partners that make the success possible. He's posted million-dollar seasons in seven of the last nine years while sending out an annual average of 203 starters.
"It's basically a small group with a lot of good people and a lot of good partners," Moore told Trot Insider at the 2022 Breeders Crown Dinner and Post Draw on Tuesday (Oct. 25), "and we try to buy what we perceive to be what might grow up to be good racehorses along the line."
The intuition was clearly on point when he assessed Stockade Seelster. A son of former Moore standout and Horse of the Year State Treasurer out of Soiree Seelster, Stockade Seelster has been Moore's most prolific two-year-old to date thanks to a rookie season with eight wins and 10 top-three finishes in 10 starts. A third-place finisher in his elimination last week from post 10, Stockade Seelster leaves from post seven in the US$600,000 Breeders Crown final for driver Jody Jamieson and owners Sally & Paul MacDonald. He's the 5-1 third choice on the morning line in Friday's final behind elim winners Confederate (PP3, Tim Tetrick, 7-5) and Handlelikeaporsche (PP2, Dexter Dunn, 5-2).
"He's a lovely-gaited horse and he's got a lot of speed, obviously. Recently, I think he's learned how to use it. Now that we've opened [his bridle] he's become a lot more versatile and we can stick him in a hole...or not.
"Jody, of course, gave him a heck of a drive in the Metro [Pace]," added Moore. "We have the seven hole on Friday night. We're hoping for another Jody drive and Stockade finish."
Greatest Ending kicks off Moore's Saturday docket of Breeders Crown hopefuls off an encouraging third-place finish for his former connections. The sophomore son of Somebeachsomewhere - Lady Be Great was purchased in a virtual auction on Monday for US$265,000, and will now compete for Let It Ride Stables Inc., Bottom Line Racing LLC, Diamond Creek Racing and McKinlay & Fielding. Yannick Gingras picks up the drive on the post nine starter, with oddsmakers listing the colt at 15-1.
"It's been an up-and-down season with him," Moore admitted. "He's had a few issues here and there. It's still been a good season with him, perhaps it could have been better. He's been a bit difficult to manage to this point but the last couple of weeks everything seems to have been in order and hopefully will be going into Saturday night for him."
Moore's Breeders Crown weekend concludes with the war horse Tattoo Artist in the Breeders Crown Open Pace. Now five, Tattoo Artist has assembled a sneaky good season while having to wage war with Bulldog Hanover — the fastest Standardbred of all time — on more than one occasion. In 21 starts this year, Tattoo Artist (Hes Watching - Stylish Artist) sports 19 top-three finishes (10-6-3) with more than $700,000 in earnings. James MacDonald will drive Tattoo Artist, the 8-1 third choice on the morning line, starting to the right of 4-5 favourite Bulldog Hanover (PP6, D. Dunn) in an 11-horse field that will surely send off the 2022 Breeders Crown night with on-track fireworks.
"He's just taking it in stride and he's been a terrific horse. I'm glad he drew on the gate; when I saw that 11 hole gone I said 'that's great, that's one [less desirable post] gone anyway' because one of his attributes, of course, is busting out of the gate and there aren't many horses that can bust the gate like he can. So that helps him a lot.
"He'll give a good account of himself, no matter what. We're very proud of Tattoo...it should be a great race, it's a good field of horses, there's no doubt about that."
To watch and listen to the full interview with Dr. Moore, click the play button below.
All four Breeders Crown finals for two-year-olds will be contested Friday at Mohawk. Racing begins at 7 p.m. (EDT) with the Crown fields going behind the gate in races six through nine. The finals for horses three and up are Saturday, also starting at 7 p.m.
To view the complete entries for this weekend's Breeders Crown finals, click one of the following links:
- Friday, Oct. 28 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
- Saturday, Oct. 29 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)