Canadian-connected On A Streak showed his win in the William Wellwood Memorial final was no fluke by capturing the $600,000 Breeders Crown for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Friday (October 30) at Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.
Bob McClure hustled On A Streak away from post four, landing on the lead and then settling into second behind second choice Captain Corey (Ake Svanstedt) through a :26.4 opening quarter.
Favoured Venerate (Andy Miller) started an overland bid from fifth but couldn't clear, remaining first up through a :55.3 half. Captain Corey continued to trot with confidence through a 1:24.1 third quarter with Venerate not going away and On A Streak looming the danger in the pocket. Down the long Hoosier Park stretch, Venerate was gaining on Captain Corey, prompting McClure to look for room up the inside with On A Streak. They found it, and once that daylight opened up On A Streak lunged past the tempo-setter and held off some late rallies to win in a lifetime best and stakes record 1:52.4. In Range (Tim Tetrick) followed On A Streak's path along the pylons for second with Venerate battling valiantly for show.
The two-year-old colt trot is available around the 3:57:00 mark
"I wanted to leave and follow either Ake or Andy, or even both," said McClure after his first Breeders Crown win. "When I saw Ake look over and try to take off on Andy I said 'this is looking really good'.
"Andy's horse still seemed like he was coming," continued McClure in reference to the strategy at the head of the stretch. "So I just had to get into the passing lane and get him re-motivated. It's not easy for two-year-old trotters to dive into the passing lane and try to advance, it's not really taught to them. But he's such a professional, as soon as he saw open air he just took off."
Trained by Luc Blais for owner Determination of Montreal, Que., On A Streak (Cantab Hall - Habits Best) now sports a 2-3-2 summary from nine rookie starts, with the winner's share of the purse giving him a solid $757,161 bankroll.
McClure joked about his snake-bitten past in the Breeders Crown before Friday night's victory.
"It's really nice. We've had some bad luck between me and Luc...he's had plenty of luck without me so I was starting to think it was me! Obviously we had a really nice trotting filly [Donna Soprano] and I thought we had the best chance to get it with, and I couldn't get her in. So it was really nice [to get this one] for the connections...I worked out a trip with this guy and Luc had him awesome."
The Breeders Crown win is the fourth for Blais, all with trotters. Emoticon Hanover won the Open Mare Trot in back-to-back seasons (2017-2018) and he won his first on home soil with Intimidate in 2012.
"To win a Breeders Crown is always special," said Blais. "It's at the end of the year, it's a long season and when you win that it helps refresh you for the winter."
Blais told Trot Insider on Wednesday that he had a good feeling about his colt's chances in the Breeders Crown final after his fourth-place elim finish.
"Today he was closer in the stretch [than he was last week] and he needed a race before that race and he was stronger tonight."