Breeders Crown finals in Grand Circuit spotlight
October 25, 2017,by Paul Ramlow, publicity director, the Grand Circuit
This Week: Breeders Crown finals and Pegasus, Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; and Kindergarten Series, Vernon Downs, Vernon, N.Y.
Schedule of events: The 12 Breeders Crown championship events at Hoosier Park will be front and center in the Grand Circuit spotlight this week. The six Breeders Crown championship races for female pacers and trotters will be raced on Friday (Oct. 27) while the six championships for male pacers and trotters will be contested on Saturday (Oct. 28). Hoosier will also host the Pegasus for 3-year-old pacers and trotters. The filly events will be held on Friday and the races for colts will be contested on Saturday.
Vernon Downs will host the final preliminary leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-old pacers and trotters on Thursday (Oct. 26). There will be single $10,000 divisions for both colts and fillies on each gait.
Complete entries for the races are available at this link.
Last time: Breeders Crown eliminations were in the spotlight this past weekend at Hoosier Park as 22 contests were raced at the Indiana oval.
Dean Gillette photo
Downbytheseaside led virtually wire-to-wire in his Breeders Crown elimination, winning in 1:51.1.
Downbytheseaside got back on the winning track Saturday night (Oct. 21), taking the first of two $25,000 eliminations for the Breeders Crown sophomore pacing male division. Driven by Brian Sears, Downbytheseaside led virtually wire-to-wire, winning in 1:51.1.
Downbytheseaside won for the 18th time in his career for owners Country Club Acres, Joe Sbrocco, Richard Lombardo and Diamond Creek Racing. Brian Brown conditions the colt.
An even-money favorite, Downbytheseaside returned $4 for the victory. Joining him in this week’s final will be runner-up Boogie Shuffle, Photobombr Hanover, Miso Fast and Ocean Colony.
The second elimination was the wildest race of the night as 28-1 shot Rock N Tony pulled off a major upset that saw both favorites — Little Brown Jug winner Filibuster Hanover and North America Cup champion Fear The Dragon — fail to qualify for the final. Rock N Tony scored in 1:50.2 for driver Trace Tetrick.
Erv Miller trains Rock N Tony for owners Anthony Lombardi and Rocco Ruffolo.
Following Rock N Tony into the final will be Blood Line, Beckhams Z Tam, Mac’s Jackpot and the supplemental entry Funknwaffles.
In a topsy-turvy season for the older male pacers, the main consistent factor in the division’s two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations was driver David Miller, as the leading active sulky-sitting money leader handled both winners, Dealt A Winner and Mach It So.
Dealt A Winner dug deep and maintained a neck margin over Keystone Velocity on the money, stopping the clock in 1:49.3, with Keystone Velocity nosing out Split The House for the deuce. Manhattan Beach (closing well) and All Bets Off were the others who advanced to this week’s final.
Dealt A Winner is trained by Mark Silva for owner Jeffrey Snyder.
Mach It So scored his first victory since the William Haughton Memorial at the Meadowlands on July 15, and in the process tied the Hoosier track record for older pacing geldings of 1:48.2 in his wire-to-wire score.
Though perhaps not a recent winner, Mach It So got his ninth check in 10 starts against top company, and the Jeff Bamond Jr. trainee now has 2017 earnings of $519,903 and a career bankroll of $2,206,647 for Bamond Racing LLC. He returned $11.00.
Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website.
Grand Circuit Standings: In 2017, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2017 Grand Circuit awards.
Here are the leaders through and including the races on Oct. 21.
Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 1,389.5; 2. David Miller – 1,223; 3. Tim Tetrick – 988; 4. Scott Zeron – 667; 5. Corey Callahan – 473.
Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 1,254.5; 2. Jimmy Takter – 1,114.5; 3. John Butenschoen – 464; 4. Brian Brown – 442; 5. Erv Miller – 391.
Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 291.7; 2. Weaver Bruscemi – 252.9; 3. Determination – 246; 4. Emerald Highlands Farm – 230; 5. Jeff Snyder – 188.
Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next weekend at Hoosier Park and Meadowlands Racetrack. Hoosier has the Monument Circle, Carl Erskine, Crossroads of America and USS Indianapolis on Nov. 4, while the Meadowlands will race the four Kindergarten Series finals, also on Nov. 4.
- Breeders Crown ‘everything you could dream about’ for Pink Pistol’s owners (Monday, October 23, 2017)
Seven years ago, horse agent Pete Shody saw a 4-year-old female trotter named August Revenue win by nearly 10 lengths in 1:54 at Pocono and called her owners to see if the mare was for sale. She was not, he was told, because she was going to be bred. But Shody did not forget about her. Five years later, the Ontario-based Shody came across a 2-year-old female trotter for sale online for $6,000 Canadian. Her name was Pink Pistol and she was a daughter of August Revenue. Shody was interested immediately. After checking out the Cantab Hall-sired filly, he convinced his wife, Sharon Cameron, and several partners to buy her. On Friday, she will compete in the $250,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Indiana.
- Darlinonthebeach is ‘coming into form’ heading into Breeders Crown (Monday, October 23, 2017)
Darlinonthebeach can end a lot of frustration and take care of some unfinished family business with a good trip this Friday (Oct. 27). Trainer Nancy Johansson’s horse is 3-1 on the morning line for the $250,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace at Hoosier Park. Darlinonthebeach won the first of two eliminations this past Friday in 1:49.3, while race favorite Nike Franco N (2-1) won the second elimination in 1:51.2.
- Magee shifts from Breeders Crown winner to judge (Monday, October 23, 2017)
Once a harness driver, always a harness driver. For someone with nearly 12,000 race wins and more than $100 million in earnings, that statement would have to be spot-on, no? Not for Dave Magee, whose highly successful driving career on the Chicagoland circuit has now seen him transition to an associate judge at Indiana’s Hoosier Park, a position enhanced by the fact that Magee had a nearly four-decade career in the bike.
- Caviart Ally looks to rebound in Breeders Crown final (Tuesday, October 24, 2017)
After letting a lead slip away in her elimination, Caviart Ally will try and be a little less zealous and a lot more powerful down the stretch in Friday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown final for 3-year-old female pacers at Hoosier Park.
- JL Cruze, Pasithea Face S scratched from Breeders Crown (Tuesday, October 24, 2017)
JL Cruze, a winner of $364,974 this year, who finished third in his Breeders Crown elimination at Hoosier Park on Saturday (Oct. 21) and drew post position two for the $526,250 Open Trot final, was scratched today with a slight injury.
- Final fields drawn for Friday, Saturday Crown events (Tuesday, October 24, 2017)
Post positions for the final four Breeders Crown races were drawn Monday night (Oct. 23) along with induction ceremonies for the Indiana Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Hoosier Park. Hannlelore Hanover drew post 4 in the Open Trot final.
- Indiana connections looking to cement local legacy in 2017 Breeders Crown (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)
When the Breeders Crown kicks off Friday night (Oct. 27) at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, Indiana’s breeding program will be represented by 10 entries in the 12 championship races. Two of those Indiana-sired starters hail from a partnership that was formed just last winter when trainer Jamie Macomber was connected with Z Tam Stables through Hoosier horseman Wilbur Eash. Now, the connections of sophomore pacers Beckhams Z Tam and Carol’s Z Tam are hoping dreams can come true this weekend.
- Post Time Special: All Bets Off (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)
With a mark of 1:48.2 set at Rosecroft Raceway at the age of 5, 27 wins from 100 starts and 63 in-the-money finishes and $2,836,082 in lifetime earnings, it’s safe to say that All Bets Off oozes class as a racehorse.
- Manchego aims for historic Breeders Crown victory (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)
Manchego will put her perfect record on the line in Friday’s $600,000 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old female trotters at Hoosier Park and a victory there would be historic. None of the previous 33 winners of the event for 2-year-old female trotters has been undefeated.
- Elimination winners hope to continue success in Crown final (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)
After watching their 3-year-old male trotters win two of the three $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations last weekend, trainers Frank M. Antonacci and Domenico Cecere will look to continue their success in Saturday’s (Oct. 28) $527,500 final at Hoosier Park. In the first elimination, International Moni posted a victory in 1:52.4, while Lindy The Great won the second elimination in 1:53.
- Rock N Tony providing connections with first Breeders Crown finalist (Thursday, October 26, 2017)
Owner Anthony Lombardi of Illinois finally has his first Breeders Crown finalist in sophomore pacing gelding Rock N Tony. Trained by Erv Miller for Lombardi and partner Rocco Ruffolo, the 3-year-old Rockin Image-Pandemonious gelding is peaking at the right time for a shot at Breeders Crown glory.
- Wrenn makes return to Breeders Crown (Thursday, October 26, 2017)
This weekend, Peter Wrenn returns to the Breeders Crown finals for the first time in 21 years. He hopes to create a few more memories in the event, which is Friday and Saturday nights at Wrenn’s home track, Hoosier Park Racing & Casino.
- Hannelore Hanover seeks large payday in Crown Open Trot (Thursday, October 26, 2017)
There could be numerous theories and reasons as to why Ron Burke is racing trotting mare Hannelore Hanover against the boys in Saturday’s (Oct. 28) $526,250 Breeders Crown Open Trot final at Hoosier Park. But the answer is simple and logical. The trainer pointed out that one reason overrides all the rest. Sounding like the Jerry Maguire of harness racing, Burke is thinking in terms of “Show me the money” when he notes the Open Trot purse is twice the size of the Mare Trot, which Hannelore Hanover won last year.
- Shnitzledosomethin is out to stamp himself as a superstar in Breeders Crown (Thursday, October 26, 2017)
He is no stranger to the sport’s marquee event, as owner Howard Taylor has collected four Breeders Crown trophies, but this year’s edition on Friday (Oct. 27) and Saturday (Oct. 28) at Hoosier Park could be scintillating for the Philadelphia resident. Shnitzledosomethin, one of five entries Taylor is involved with in this year’s edition, possesses the opportunity to not only redeem his sire’s second place finish in the 2010 Crown sophomore male pace, but to place himself firmly on center stage as a truly special horse.
- It’s “Obvious” Mark Steacy means business in Breeders Crown (Thursday, October 26, 2017)
Trainer Mark Steacy has only one starter in the 2017 Breeders Crown, but his history in these championship races makes Obvious Blue Chip an obvious horse to watch Friday night at Hoosier Park.
- Less is more for Fourth Dimension (Friday, October 27, 2017)
For Fourth Dimension, it was the classic case of addition by subtraction. Despite racing well enough in the preliminary legs to qualify for the New York Sire Stakes final at Yonkers, the freshman trotting colt was held out by trainer Marcus Melander. He felt Fourth Dimension had nothing left to prove in the Empire State and wanted to save him for the Breeders Crown. Removing the NYSS from the equation has paid off so far, as Fourth Dimension was a winner in last Saturday’s Breeders Crown 2-year-old colt and gelding elimination races at Hoosier Park. He enters Saturday’s final as the 5-2 favorite starting from the No. 4 post position.
- Merriman hopes Crown win is in the cards (Friday, October 27, 2017)
Aaron Merriman got Dealt A Winner and will try to play a winning hand in Saturday’s (Oct. 28) $421,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Dealt A Winner and Mach It So each won an elimination last week, with David Miller driving both. Miller will drive Mach It So in Saturday’s final, so Merriman was called upon to drive Dealt A Winner. A 5-year-old gelding, Dealt A Winner is the 3-1 morning-line favorite, with Mach It So next at 7-2.
- Luc Blais loaded for Breeders Crown trotting events (Friday, October 27, 2017)
Trainer Luc Blais is feeling good about the horses he has in this year’s $6 million Breeders Crown at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., but there’s also a feeling of melancholy because he’ll be competing without his greatest horse, Intimidate. The 8-year-old gelding was retired earlier this year.