Woodstock, VA – After two weeks of elimination races, fields for the Virginia Breeders Fund 3-year-old championships are set and will take place this Saturday (May 23) at Shenandoah Downs. The four title bouts each feature a full field of eight, with combined purse money of $439,900. They are scheduled as races 1, 3, 5 and 7 on the 14-race card which gets underway at 1:05 p.m. (EDT).
Headliner in the $107,800 filly pace is Frank Chick’s Caviart Daisy, who was simply stellar in her eliminations. The daughter of Sweet Lou covered the two miles in 1:53.1 and 1:53.2, respectively, in wire-to-wire fashion. The Jamie Sullivan trainee, who was driven by Tony Morgan in both outings, established a new divisional track mark in the first. Caviart Daisy enters the final with $227,360 in purse earnings. She won the Breeders Championship as a 2-year-old in 1:53.3.
Other filly pace elimination winners were Ron Millman’s Meemaw’s Column and Hagerman Racing’s More Than Better. The former wired a modest four-horse field in 1:56.3 this past Sunday with Russell Foster aboard. The Sports Column filly finished second to More Than Better in a first week elimination. Corey Braden piloted the latter to the first-round win and a third on Sunday, 3-3/4 lengths behind Caviart Daisy.
Four different colt and gelding pacers got their pictures taken between the two early rounds. Ramona Gillespie’s 2-year-old Virginia Breeders champ Caviart Trenton, Lawrence Cooper’s Caviart Hartley, William Hartt’s Caviart Cadet and Dr. Edward Ward’s Caviart Sheridan were all victorious and will battle in Saturday’s $109,300 final.
Fastest time was authored by Caviart Hartley, who came from behind in deep stretch Sunday to catch Caviart Cadet at the wire in 1:54. Driver Fern Paquet Jr. led the winning effort for the Tall Dark Stranger colt. Caviart Trenton also won his division on Sunday in 1:55.1, which followed a 1:58.3 runner-up outing a week prior. Eric Davis drove on both occasions for trainer Janet Davis. Caviart Cadet also snagged a win and second in the series. Another son of Tall Dark Stranger, the Britney Dillon trainee was driven by Tony Morgan in both. Caviart Sheridan kicked off the series in fine form with a 21-length victory but on Sunday finished third and was disqualified to fifth.
Fastest trotting mile over the past two weekends came from Thestable Cherrys Girl & Hutchison Harness LLC’s Cherry’s Girl, who wired the field Saturday in 1:58.2 with trainer/driver Logan Ebersole aboard. The Captain Corey filly was a full length better than Jane Dunavant’s runner-up, Kokono. The winner authored a 1:57 mark in Delaware, Ohio, as a 2-year-old.
Other Breeders Fund elimination winners were Timothy Betts & Shanamphilankilou Inc.’s Honolugoo and Scott Woogen’s duo of Progessivekathy and Caviart Gemma, who finished second in her first-round clash but got bumped to first after initial winner Honolugoo was downgraded to second after a judges’ review.
Fastest trotting mile in the colt and gelding category came from Cindy Loo Goo, who crossed in 1:59.2 with Russell Foster in the sulky. The Scott Betts trainee went outside at the quarter mark of his first-round elimination and coasted home to a 3-length win as the betting choice. On Saturday, he finished second to Tremaine Harding’s Harding Boy, who was best by 1-3/4 lengths in 2:01.1. Harding Boy is a Gregory Pecs gelding who is trained by Mike Whitaker.
Other male elimination round winners included Kalispel and Ahtohallan, conditioned by Bob McKim and Scott Betts, respectively. The former, who did not compete in round two, wired the field on May 9 in 2:01.1 while the latter powered to a 3-3/4 length triumph Saturday in 1:59.4.
Breeders Fund trot finals will feature a $111,100 purse in the filly division and a $111,700 purse in the colt and gelding division.
Free TrackMaster programs and Derby Bill Watson’s tip sheet are available at shenandoahdowns.com as are past race replays and live video streaming.
After Saturday’s “Day of Champions” card, Shenandoah Downs will wrap up its spring season Sunday (May 24) with a 13-race card beginning at 1:05 p.m. (EDT). The annual fall harness campaign will run from Sept. 19-Nov. 1.