by Ken Weingartner, USTA Media Relations Manager

Hightstown, NJ — McWicked, harness racing’s richest horse this year, drew post No. 3 for Saturday’s $430,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace and was made the 5-2 morning-line favorite while Cruzado Dela Noche drew post No. 6 for Saturday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot and was also tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line choice.

Draws for the Open Pace and Open Trot were conducted Tuesday at Wisecrackers at Mohegan Sun Pocono. The draws for the remaining 10 championship events were held last weekend following the eliminations.

All 12 Breeders Crown championships, with $6.4 million in total purses, will be raced Saturday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. Post time is 5:30 p.m. (EDT) for the first race.

The Open Pace was the only Breeders Crown division that did not require eliminations. Joining McWicked are Filibuster Hanover (post one), Lazarus N (post two), Western Fame (post four), Rockin Ron (post five), Dontellmeagain (post six), All Bets Off (post seven), and Dealt A Winner (post eight). Lazarus N was supplemented for $50,000.

McWicked, who won a Breeders Crown at age 3 in 2014, is the sport’s top money-earner this season with $1.17 million in purses. He has won nine of 16 races for trainer Casie Coleman and owner Ed James’ S S G Stables.

He enters the Open Pace off wins in the Dan Rooney Invitational Pace at Yonkers on Oct. 13 and the Allerage Farms Open at Red Mile on Oct. 6. He paced 1:46.2, the second-fastest race mile in history, to defeat Lazarus N by three-quarters of a length in the Allerage.

Other wins for McWicked this year include the Ben Franklin Pace on June 30 at Pocono, the William R. Haughton Memorial on July 14 at The Meadowlands, and the Canadian Pacing Derby on Sept. 1 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

“Everything seems good with him,” Coleman said. “I trained him on Saturday and he was awesome. He’s sharp, sound, healthy. I’m very happy we didn’t go elims and I got to give him a week off to freshen him up.”

Lazarus N, who was scratched sick from the Dan Rooney Invitational, is looking for a win in the Breeders Crown so he can earn an invite to next month’s TVG Series championship. New Zealand’s two-time Horse of the Year has two wins and three seconds since arriving in the U.S. in May.

Jimmy Takter, who has won a record 33 Breeders Crown finals, trains the 6-year-old stallion for owner Taylor Made Stallions. For his career, the son of Bettor’s Delight-Bethany has won 37 of 50 races and $3.06 million.

“He feels very sharp,” Takter said. “His blood work has been going in the right direction, so he should be all right. The Breeders Crown was my goal the whole year, but I didn’t count on him being sick after Lexington. I’d like to have another start in him, but he feels really good.

“This is one of the more interesting races on the card, I think. People love to see these horses.”

In the Open Trot, elimination winners drew for posts one through five. Guardian Angel AS will start from post three and Top Flight Angel from post four. The remainder of the field is Pinkman (post one), Dunbar Hall (post two), Homicide Hunter (post five), Warrawee Roo (post seven), Will Take Charge (post eight), and Marion Marauder (post nine).

Morning-line favorite Cruzado Dela Noche, a 6-year-old stallion, raced in the U.S. at ages 2 and 3 before going to Europe. He returned to the U.S. this summer and in his first start back won the $1 million Yonkers International Trot on Oct. 13. He finished third in his Breeders Crown elimination.

“He raced very well,” trainer Marcus Melander said about the elim. “He was first up and it was a pretty slow first half. He’ll be good next week. We’ll take off his shoes next week and he will step up a little bit. Normally he is a better horse if we can take the shoes off. With a good draw I’m very confident in him.”

Cruzado Dela Noche, a son of Muscle Massive out of Alidade, is owned by Anders Ström’s Courant stable. He has won 15 of 57 career races and $1.20 million.

Homicide Hunter, a 6-year-old gelding, is the fastest trotter in harness racing history thanks to his 1:48.4 win in the Allerage Farms Open Trot on Oct. 6 at Red Mile. The previous fastest trotting mile was 1:49 set by Sebastian K at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 2014.

The Chris Oakes-trained Homicide Hunter, a son of Mr Cantab-Evening Prayer, has won 38 of 77 career starts and $1.46 million. He is owned by Crawford Farms Racing.

Following are the fields in post position order for the $430,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace and $500,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot.

$430,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-ML
1-Filibuster Hanover-Matt Kakaley-Ron Burke-4/1
2-Lazarus N-Yannick Gingras-Jimmy Takter-3/1
3-McWicked-Brian Sears-Casie Coleman-5/2
4-Western Fame-Brett Miller-Jimmy Takter-6/1
5-Rockin Ron-Chris Page-Ron Burke-12/1
6-Donttellmeagain-Tim Tetrick-Jim King Jr.-9/2
7-All Bets Off-Matt Kakaley-Ron Burke-10/1
8-Dealt A Winner-David Miller-Mark Silva-15/1

$500,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-ML
1-Pinkman-Yannick Gingras-Jimmy Takter-10/1
2-Dunbar Hall-Jody Jamieson-Stephanie Jamieson-20/1
3-Guardian Angel AS-Matt Kakaley-Anette Lorentzon-5/1
4-Top Flight Angel-Andy Miller-Julie Miller-6/1
5-Homicide Hunter-Brian Sears-Chris Oakes-3/1
6-Cruzado Dela Noche-Brian Sears-Marcus Melander-5/2
7-Warrawee Roo-Dan Dube-Luc Blais-12/1
8-Will Take Charge-Tim Tetrick-Jeff Gillis-15/1
9-Marion Marauder-Scott Zeron-Paula Wellwood-4/1