HP Paque Trots To Breeders Crown Winners Circle
July 31, 2004,Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA
HP Paque (Brian Sears) inherited the lead and kept it in the $800,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot on Saturday night at The Meadowlands after two leaders, first War Paint and then Elegant Man, made breaks in the stretch.
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USTA Photo
Owner Timo Panula and driver Brian Sears hoist the Breeders Crown trophy after HP Paque’s win the in the $800,000 Open Trot.
War Paint (John Campbell) was on the lead at the :27.2 quarter, :55 half and 1:23 three quarters, with Fool’s Goal (Jack Moiseyev) grinding first over on the outside into the final turn and Legendary Lover K tipping three wide. War Paint, still leading at the head of the stretch, made a break and ran inside the pylons, leaving the lead to Elegant Man. He held the lead for several strides and then also made a break, leaving the lead and the win, in a career best 1:52.2, to HP Paque by a length.
“He’s a really handy horse,” Sears said. “He’s got high speed on both ends of it. I just stepped him out of there and got a good trip. It just worked out. I was fortunate enough not to get tangled up with John when he did go off stride. The horse fired home good. He’s a real nice horse. He’s a classy horse and deserves every bit of it.”
Legendary Lover K (Mike Lachance), the American-bred horse now racing in Europe, was second, a length back, and Bebop (Trond Smedshammer) was third. Behind them were Fool’s Goal (Jack Moiseyev) and Cosington (Trevor Ritchie) got the final check. Owned by Timo Panula, a bloodstock agent who is a native of Finland and August Frederik Miedel, HP Paque is trained by Smedshammer.
“It’s a dream come true to win the Breeders Crown,” Panula said.