by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Toronto, ON — Market Share on Tuesday drew post eight for the $555,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old male trotters and was made the 2-1 morning line favorite as he looks to give trainer Linda Toscano back-to-back winners in the event.

Chuck Sylvester is the only trainer to win the 3-year-old colt trot in consecutive years, with Pine Chip in 1993 and Incredible Abe in 1994.

Connections for Intimidate and Little Brown Fox, who won last weekend’s eliminations for the race, were able to pick their starting spots thanks to those victories. Luc Blais, trainer of Intimidate, selected first and took post three. Jim Fielding, one of the owners of Little Brown Fox, then picked post four.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs was the special guest for the post position draw.

For the second year in a row, Woodbine on Saturday night will host all 12 Breeders Crown championship finals, which offer $6.2 million in purses, making it the richest day of horse racing in Canada.

North America’s best 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and older pacers and trotters will be in the spotlight in harness racing’s annual year-end extravaganza. The Score will provide a special 4-1/2 hour television presentation across Canada, from 7-11:30 p.m. (EDT), offering live coverage of 10 of the 12 Crown finals. The Score’s telecast will also be carried live in the U.S. on MavTV.

James van Riemsdyk, the newly-acquired forward of the Toronto Maple Leafs after being traded from the Philadelphia Flyers, was the special guest for the post position draw at WEGZ Stadium Bar.

Market Share, who with driver Tim Tetrick has won the $1.5 million Hambletonian and the $1.03 million Canadian Trotting Classic on his way to a national-best $1.77 million in purses, finished second to Intimidate in his Breeders Crown elimination. His stablemate, Chapter Seven, won last season’s 3-year-old colt trot and is entered in Saturday’s Breeders Crown Open Trot.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Linda Toscano and her trainee Market Share are the 2-1 morning line favorites.

“In a perfect world, I’d rather have (post) three, four or five, but it’s not the worst thing in the world,” Toscano said. “He likes to draft along. Timmy will have to figure out what to do. A lot of the speed is in the middle (of the track), so it’s OK.”

Market Share has won eight of 17 races this year for owners Richard Gutnick, TLP Stable and William Augustine. Since finishing third in the Yonkers Trot on July 7, Market Share has won five of nine races and finished no worse than second in the other four. For his career, he has won 13 of 22 starts and $1.80 million.

In his Breeders Crown elimination, Market Share led by two lengths at the top of the stretch before Intimidate and driver Sylvain Filion launched a rally from fifth place and won by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:53.1.

“We were happy with the race,” Toscano said. “He probably cleared too soon; he gets lazy on the lead and it’s a long stretch. But take nothing away from Sylvain’s horse (Intimidate); he was super.”

Intimidate, the 5-2 second choice on the morning line, was supplemented to the Breeders Crown for $62,500 by owners Blais and Judith Farrow.

“It was exciting last week to make the final,” Blais said. “When you’re in the final, it’s not like the elimination. I think there is a little less pressure. We supplemented, and we’re not a big outfit, and you want to make the final. You need to win the elimination.”

Intimidate has won 12 of 16 races and finished second on three occasions while earning $143,285 this year. His only previous stakes race was a second-place finish to Little Brown Fox, in 1:51.4, in the Simcoe Stakes on Sept. 1 at Mohawk.

Filion will drive Prestidigitator in the Breeders Crown final, so Ron Pierce, who drove Intimidate in the Simcoe, will pick up the mount. Pierce suggested Blais take post three if he was awarded the first pick.

“I think for this kind of race, he’s a good guy to have; he’s a pro,” Blais said. “He knows that game.”

Little Brown Fox, who is 3-1 on the morning line, won his Breeders Crown elimination by 5-3/4 lengths over Prestidigitator in 1:53.

Yannick Gingras drove Little Brown Fox, the favorite, for trainer Jimmy Takter and owners Christina Takter, John Fielding, Brittany Farms and Jim Fielding.

Jim Fielding made the post position selection for the connections, with help from Jimmy Takter.

“I gave him a call and told him Intimidate took the three, and he said to take the four,” Fielding said, adding with a laugh, “It was kind of nice to have that telephone right in my ear. There was no pressure on me.”

Little Brown Fox has won seven of 16 races this year, finished no worse than third 14 times, and earned $790,928. His wins this season include the Simcoe Stakes, a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial and the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship. He finished second in the Canadian Trotting Classic and third in both The Colonial and Beal Memorial. For his career, he has won eight of 25 starts and $896,104.

“The way he raced last week, we’ve got to be in pretty good shape, I think,” Fielding said. “These colts are really nice colts and it’s going to be a great race. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Here is the draw: