from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Freehold, NJ — For the first time in Breeders Crown history, two past winners from the older pacing ranks will square off in the Open Pace at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario. Lis Mara, the event’s defending champion, will face a field of eight other contenders in Saturday’s $500,000 (C$540,000) final, which includes two-time Open Pace winner Boulder Creek, who won the title in 2004 and 2005.

Lis Mara is coming off his second consecutive victory in the Canadian Pacing Derby. It was his first stake triumph since winning the Graduate at the Meadowlands on May 19. He was winless in four previous stakes finals. For the year, Lis Mara has eight wins in 13 starts and $880,945. The 5-year-old has 26 career wins and purses of $2 million.

“It looks like he’s coming into the race in good shape,” said Tony Alagna, an assistant trainer in the Ervin Miller Stable who takes care of Lis Mara on the road. “We felt like he’s been pretty good all along, but he had some problems with dehydration and it took us a little while to make sure we had everything OK. It’s one of those deals that until you race him and stress him, you don’t know where you’re at. And he had some tough trips along the way.”

Lis Mara, who will start the Crown final from post four, finished second to Boulder Creek in the Ben Franklin final at Harrah’s Chester on July 22, racing most of the mile on the outside.

“He got the thumps (muscle twitching as the result of dehydration) real bad at Chester after the final,” Alagna said. “He raced a big trip in his elimination and he came back and raced a hard trip in the final. I think when he goes two hard trips in a row like that it takes a toll on him.”

Testing revealed Lis Mara needed saline in his water and modifications to his diet.

“We look at what his body is keeping, and what it’s getting rid of,” Alagna said. “Last time, his calcium was very good, which is something we had problems with in the past, but his magnesium was very low. It’s just a fine tune all the time to keep him at that level. We hope we have everything under control, but we monitor it very carefully.”

Boulder Creek, who is seven, has won three of 16 races this year and earned $459,914. He has won 35 career starts and banked $3.1 million in purses. He was third in the Canadian Pacing Derby.

“He’s in good shape,” trainer Mark Silva said. “He got a week off, he drew the two hole — they’re going to hear from him this week; I’m pretty sure of it. This is the race we’ve been heading to for about a month. All systems are go.”

Mister Big, the William Haughton Memorial winner and Canadian Pacing Derby runner-up, will start from post three. He is among a group of 4-year-olds, which includes Crown finalists Total Truth, Artistic Fella, Took Hanover and Western Shore, making noise in the older pacing division.

“You’ve got new players,” Alagna said. “It tells something about our sport. You see more horses come into the older ranks and they don’t need a year now; they’re good 4-year-olds. They’re good and can go with that group. I think it’s a testament to our breed.”

Below is the Breeders Crown Open Pace field in post position order, with listed drivers and trainers. Elimination races were not needed.

Breeders Crown Open Trot: Defending champion Sand Vic, Nat Ray winner Corleone Kosmos and 2005 Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo highlight a seven-horse field in Saturday’s $726,000 (C$784,080) Breeders Crown Trot at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario. Vivid Photo, coming off a victory in the Credit Winner at Vernon Downs on August 16, is the highest seasonal and career earner in the field, with $402,987 and $2.5 million, respectively.

Breeders Crown Mare Trot: Mystical Sunshine is back to defend her title, but will face last season’s 3-year-old Crown winner Susie’s Magic and 2005 2-year-old champ Passionate Glide, among others, in the $250,000 (C$270,000) Breeders Crown Mare Trot final at Mohawk. The field also includes Armbro Flight winner Lavec Dream and Canada’s top filly trotter of the past two years, Pure Ivory. Snazzy Millie, who is on the verge of $1 million in career purses, and Mystical Sunshine won elimination races to advance to the final.

Breeders Crown Mare Pace: Two-time Breeders Crown filly winner My Little Dragon will make her first attempt to earn a trophy in the older division. Longshots Ideal Weather and Double Dream N won elimination races to reach the $363,000 (C$392,040) Breeders Crown Mare Pace final. Also in the field is Darlin’s Delight, who was the O’Brien Award and Dan Patch Award winner as best 3-year-old filly pacer in 2006, plus multi-millionairess Invitro, Golden Girls winner Armbro Dancer and Roses Are Red champ Moving Pictures.