by Breeders Crown Publicity

TORONTO – The race for divisional honors north and south of the border will be played out on a cool Canadian evening at Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, Ont., Canada, Saturday, Oct. 23.

The richest night in North American harness racing, the annual Breeders Crown finale, features eight championship events for two and three-year-old, colt and filly, trotters and pacers, and is usually the determining factor in several of contested divisions.

In addition, results from Saturday night’s races could have an impact on Horse of the Year honors on both sides of the border.

Special post time for the Woodbine card is 7:15 p.m. with the Breeders Crown races being carded as races 2-9.

Headlining the eight-race extravaganza will be the C$762,500-US $610,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace. K&R Racing and George Teague’s Rainbow Blue, 16 for 17 in 2004 and 22 of 24 in her career, can lock up divisional honors and state her case for Horse of the Year with a victory.

Trained by George Teague and driven by the newest Hall of Famer Ron Pierce, Rainbow Blue will become harness racing’s newest millionaire with a first or second place finish Saturday night.

Her chief competition will be local favorite Invitro. Owned by the Irwin Stables and MMR Stables, trained by Gordon Irwin and driven by Paul MacDonell, Invitro is 11 of 16 in 2004 and could also become a millionaire with a Breeders Crown win.

The pair has met twice at Woodbine in the Fan Hanover Stake with Rainbow Blue winning both contests.

The Three-Year-Old Filly Pace will be the third race on the Woodbine program.

Another compelling matchup will surface in the seventh race, the C$625,000-US $500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot.

Goin My Way, Tingley Stable and Angie Stiller’s Peaceful Way, with $1.4 million in career earnings is a slight 7/5 morning line favorite in what may be the deepest division championship on the card. Peaceful Way is trained by David Tingley and driven by Chris Christoforou.

Second choice at 8/5 is Patricia Spinelli & Theodore Gewertz’ Housethatruthbuilt, winner of the Kentucky Futurity Filly and a winner over Peaceful Way in their last head to head confrontation in the $136,985 Simcoe at Mohawk on Sept. 9.

Other contenders in the division include L & L DeVisser’s Olympics, winner of the Buckette and Jorgen Jahre’s Silver Springs, who won the Hambletonian Oaks at The Meadowlands in August.

A victory in the richest event of the night, the C$829,000-US$663,200 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt Pace could very well decide the divisional picture, the eighth race on the program.

Six-time winner Shanghai Phil ($465,654) and four-time winner Allamerican Inca ($227,488) captured elimination races and are the favorites at 2-1 and 8/5 respectively. Other contenders include Metro Pace champion Rocknroll Hanover ($688,275) and Woodrow Wilson winner Village Jolt ($663,137).

The finale of the eight race extravaganza will feature the sport’s glamour division, the C$693,750-US$555,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Pace, features the winners of $1 million races, North America Cup champion Mantacular and Meadowlands Pace champion Holborn Hanover.

The favorite in the race will be Lloyd Arnold’s Quik Pulse Mindale, a $62,500 supplemental entry, who scored an impressive elimination victory in 1:51. The other elimination winner is Perfect World Enterprises’ Geartogear, a winner of his last four starts.

Elimination winners Cabrini Hanover (8/5), Fast Ruffles (7/2) and Savannah Sky (4-1) look to advance the cause for divisional honors as they compete in the C$721,000-US$576,800 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace. That field will be lead to the post by three-time Breeders Crown champion Eternal Camnation, in her final appearance on the racetrack.

The evening of championship racing will kick off as trainer Jimmy Takter’s dynamic duo of Solveig (6/5) and Flirtin Miss (4-1) are the favorites in the C$698,625-US$558,900 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot.

The odds-on morning line favorite Ken Warkentin (3/5), named for one of the race callers at The Meadowlands, looks for his eighth win in nine career starts in the C$675,375-US$525,900 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt Trot.

2003 Trotter of the Year Cantab Hall clinched year-end honors and capped an undefeated season with a Crown win in last year’s two-year-old event at The Meadowlands. Cantab Hall looks to become just the third colt trotter to win back to back Breeders Crown titles at two and three as the 2-1 morning line favorite in the C$625,000-US$500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old & Gelding Trot. Only Mack Lobell (1986-87) and Malabar Man (1996-97) have accomplished the feat.

An international audience will be able to watch and wager on the Breeders Crown at tracks and off-track wagering facilities throughout the United States and Canada. For the first time, the Breeders Crown races will be available for wagering in the State of California and its intertrack network. More than 800 outlets in all will carry Breeders Crown events.

In Canada, fans can watch the action from Woodbine via The Score cable channel from 8-11 p.m.

There will be live streaming video of the Breeders Crown events available at ustrotting.com during the Breeders Crown races. The video production is sponsored by Ontario Tourism.

Harness enthusiasts may download the complete Breeders Crown race program from Woodbine on the special Breeders Crown homepage on the USTA web site at http://www.ustrotting.com/misc/breederscrown/main.cfm.