While the focus in the 2021 Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot will revolve around world champion Atlanta, there are a number of mares in that deep and talented field looking to keep a Breeders Crown victory off her list of accomplishments.
When Dovescry will start Saturday from post seven and is 4-1 on the morning line. David Miller will be in the sulky for trainer Brett Pelling. When Dovescry, owned by John Lengacher, has won six of 15 races this year and missed the board only once. For her career, the daughter of Muscle Hill-Cedar Dove has won 18 of 44 races and $1.57 million.
“She is absolutely one of the most perfect lovely horses you could ever have in your stable,” Pelling said about the five-year-old mare, who won the Armbro Flight Stakes and Miss Versatility Series final this year. “She is a pleasure to be around. We love her, she loves us.”
Hypnotic AM, who received a bye into the final, is the 5-1 third choice in the final, starting from post eight with Brian Sears driving for trainer Marcus Melander. The four-year-old is a daughter of Chapter Seven-Daydream AM S and has earned $1.47 million lifetime.
“She’s had a great year,” Melander said. “She’s made just under $300,000 and raced against the best four-year-olds and the best mares. I can’t complain. She’s not a big horse. She went (1):50 flat in Lexington and she always tries her best. She’s showed she can be right there with them, but we need a little bit of luck.”
The field also includes two previous Breeders Crown champs, Next Level Stuff and Ramona Hill. Next Level Stuff, by Sebastian K S out of Nantab, will start from post 10 as she attempts to become the first female trotter to win a Crown at ages three and four since Bee A Magician in 2013-14.
Four-year-old Ramona Hill, who won her Crown at age two and captured the Hambletonian last year, starts from post five Saturday as she hopes to put health woes behind her.
“She has a lot of issues with her back, and everything has to be good at the same time,” trainer Tony Alagna said after watching the daughter of Muscle Hill-Lock Down Lindy finish a dead-heat fifth with Sorella in the elimination.
“I was thrilled with her. That was probably the best race she’s put in this year. Jammed-up trip, sitting fifth-over, no flow, and when (driver Andy McCarthy) tipped her, she looked like her old self. I think with a start like that under her belt and a good draw, she will be that much better going to the final. Fingers crossed.”
Felicityshagwell S, who was beaten by 1-1/4 lengths in finishing fourth in the elimination, is 15-1 on the morning line from post six, but trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt is happy with the six-year-old daughter of Maharajah-Diaz Boko.
“If I had racing room (in the elimination) I think I win easy,” Svanstedt said. “She is in top form.”
Atlanta is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $300,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot at The Meadowlands. She won last week’s single elimination by three-quarters of a length over When Dovescry in 1:52.1 and will start the final from post two with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke.
“She wasn’t a hundred percent healthy last week, so I think she’s going to be better this week,” Gingras said. “She will be a hundred percent health wise, so it will just be my job to get her the best trip. I think obviously she’s the horse to beat in there.
“If I can spot her second over it would be ideal. She is definitely better chasing, everyone knows that. But great horses do great things, and she can win any which way. She doesn’t need a trip, she just needs a target. She can be first up and that’s not a problem.”
Atlanta, a six-year-old daughter of Chapter Seven out of Hemi Blue Chip, has won 31 of 61 career races. In Breeders Crown finals, she was fourth at age two and second at three. The past two years, she faced the boys in the Open Trot, finishing third each time.
“It would be great to have a Breeders Crown trophy with her, that’s for sure,” said Gingras, who drives Atlanta for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Brad Grant, and Howard Taylor. “I think she is going to give a good account of herself.”
The Breeders Crown Mare Trot is the fifth race Saturday, the second of the eight Breeders Crown finals. To view the full entries for Saturday's Breeders Crown card of harness racing at The Meadowlands, click one of the following links: Saturday Entries ♔ Saturday Program Pages.
(with files from USTA)