Breeders Crown night has concluded with eight thrilling championship finals at Woodbine Racetrack and over $5.1 million in purses up for
grabs.
Recaps of the major events appear in chronological order, but clearly the highlight of the night was Muscle Hill capturing his 20th straight win and going undefeated as a sophomore by easily winning the Three-Year-Old Colt Trot Final.
Anderlecht Opens BC Night With Preferred Triumph
Anderlecht kicked off the Breeders Crown night program with a solid score in the $40,000 Preferred Pace Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack.
Royal Becquet (Mike Saftic) fired off the gate from the centre of the track but settled for the two-hole as Keystone Horatio (Randy Waples) charged forward from Post 7 in a speedy :26.4 opening quarter. As the field headed to the half in :55, Cinderella Guy (Jim Morrill, Jr.) moved up from third and struck the front while Jody Jamieson rolled Anderlecht out from back in sixth. The 4-1 fourth choice blasted to the lead with Mr Saratoga (Sylvain Filion) surging off his cover to three-quarters in 1:23.1. As the field spun off the turn, Anderlecht gave the cold shoulder to his challenger and powered home to a three length score in 1:50.4.
Keystone Horatio was the runner-up with Cinderella Guy finishing third.
The winning son of Cams Card Shark-Chablis scored for the sixth time in 33 starts this year and lifted his earnings to $241,420 for trainer Igor Vrablic and owners Black Road Stable of Kitchener and Point Zero Seven Racing of Burlington, Ont. The four-year-old has won 12 times in his career good for $354,755 in purses.
Yellow Diamond Earns Her Crown
Yellow Diamond was on top before the half and held off a late rush from Ginger And Fred to win the $731,158 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace and surpass the million dollar mark in career earnings Saturday evening at Woodbine Racetrack.
With the inside advantage Kabbalah Karen B (Mark MacDonald) fired off a :27.1 first quarter with Ginger And Fred (Dave Palone) shooting for the pocket from Post 7 and Jim Morrill, Jr. positioning favourite Yellow Diamond in third from a Post 2 start. After Ginger And Fred stepped around the leader, Morrill had Yellow Diamond out and driving early and the Western Terror-Mattatonic filly was on top by the three-eighths mark. She took the field to the half in :55.3 before firing off a 1:22.2 third quarter. Yellow Diamond maintained a comfortable lead into the stretch, but Ginger And Fred used a strong late kick threatening Yellow Diamond’s Crown. Digging deep, Yellow Diamond managed to hold off the pocket-sitter by a neck for the victory in 1:51.2. Shanghai Lil (Mike Lachance) rounded out the top three.
Yellow Diamond, who was supplemented to the Breeders Crown final for a fee of $62,500, is trained by Tracy Brainard and owned by Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida.
“She showed a lot of guts tonight,” said Morrill, Jr. following the race. “Ginger And Fred got to her head but my filly dug in and gave 150 per cent. She gives everything she has, sometimes too much as she'll try too hard but Tracy had her perfect tonight.
"It's always good to win a big race, pleasure to be driving this calibre of a horse."
Yellow Diamond, who is unraced at two, improved her record to 11-2-4 in 18 starts and boosted her earnings to $1,121,196.
Dave Palone driving second-place finisher Ginger And Fred: "She's been very solid all year and was up against a very tough entry," Palone noted. "She's such a nice filly and she's a fighter. I really love her. It's windy out there tonight and there's a strong cross wind that you can feel scoring down. I really didn't want to move her too early off Jimmy's [Morrill, Jr., driving Yellow Diamond] back, but it sure turned out to be a horse race. This has been a tough, long year and she's really prevailed beyond my expectations. I'd love to be standing in that winner's circle right now, but it was a great race."
Mike Lachance, driver of Shanghai Lil, third-place finisher: "I was tickled to death to finish third because I looked at the race before and thought at best if I got a trip she'd finish fourth. The horse I didn't think I could beat we did beat and finished third. I beat one of the good fillies so we had a good trip and we're happy. The race unfolded the way I thought it would except that the one filly we beat in the stretch didn't race as good as I thought she would. The filly was very, very good coming home and stronger than I've ever seen her at the end."
Trainer Peter Foley on Shanghai Lil: "Third, I'm just tickled pink, and anything would have been wonderful. I was praying for a cheque the whole mile. She had a ton of pace coming home and I'm just tickled pink!! She's going to go to Yonkers for her next start."
Muscle Hill Goes Undefeated At Three
World champion Muscle Hill capped off his phenomenal career in style with another top-notch triumph in the $617,880 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Trot Saturday evening at Woodbine Racetrack.
Hot Shot Blue Chip (Mike Lachance) and Tom Cango (Tim Tetrick) were the early breakers as Swan For All (Ron Pierce) leapt to an early two length advantage from Post 7 with the 1-9 overwhelming favourite, Muscle Hill and Brian Sears, getting away fourth from Post 1. At the :28.3 quarter pole, Sears sent Muscle Hill first-up and the talented trotter landed the lead at the :57.2 half-mile marker. After settling on top, Muscle Hill fired off a 1:24.1 third quarter and kicked away by two and a half lengths for the 1:54.1 triumph.
Triumphant Caviar (Luc Ouellette) was the runner-up. Swan For All finished third after making a break off the final turn, but was placed back to sixth for moving inside the pylons and gaining an unfair advantage. Fourth place finisher Neighsay Hanover (John Campbell) inherited third.
Greg Peck trains the winner for owners Jerry Silva, Muscle Hill Racing LLC of Long Beach, New York, T L P Stable of Kearny and Southwind Farm of Pennington, New Jersey.
The son of Muscles Yankee-Yankee Blondie has won 20 consecutive races since finishing second in his career debut at two on July 3, 2008 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. With the win, Muscle Hill became the third trotter to earn Crown titles in both his two and three-year-old seasons joining Malabar Man (1996-97) and Mack Lobell, who won three Crowns (1986-88). He has also earned victories in the Peter Haughton, Hambletonian, Canadian Trotting Classic, Kentucky Futurity and World Trotting Derby amassing $3,318,682 lifetime and making him the second trotter (along with Deweycheatumnhowe) to surpass $3 million in earnings before turning four.
"I still remember meeting Greg Peck at the bar in Harrisburg, and he told me he came there for one horse," recalled owner Tom Pontone in the winner's circle. "I asked him what he liked most and it was the video.
"I would never have guessed we'd get two Breeders Crowns. We were just looking for a solid trotter. He's the best trotter I've seen in the last 25, 30 years."
Muscle Hill will hang up his racing shoes and head to Southwind Farms of New Jersey to begin his stallion career.
"I can't wait to race his foals, I would have loved to keep seeing him on the track but it's time for him to go to stud."
"It's emotional but I'm excited to see him go to stud," added co-owner Lou Pontone.
Jerry Silva, member of the Muscle Hill ownership group: "You're always nervous before a race. The one hole made life easy for us. Brian knows Muscle Hill and Muscle Hill knows Brian. They're a great twosome. To finish the year undefeated is amazing. I never had a horse, in all my years of racing, that was undefeated. And he did it. He did it like I knew he would do it."
Luc Ouellette driving Triumphant Caviar (second): "He got a chance to redeem himself here tonight. He got really sick during Hambletonian week which we were all very upset about. As it turns out, he had gotten bit by an insect - a spider or something - and as a result the back of his throat really swelled up. A lot of horses would take months to recover from something like this but he only took a few weeks and he was back cleaning up his grain and feeling strong again. I don't want to sound cocky but I thought we were second best going into this race and coming down the lane I never even pulled his blinds down. I was that confident that we were secure for second money."
John Campbell on third-place Neighsay Hanover: "He raced okay he just wasn't getting over the track that well. I had to be really careful with him down the backstretch and I lost some lengths there. We got lucky to be placed third. The way he was trotting down the backstretch I was happy to get a cheque."
Trainer Trond Smedshammer on Neighsay Hanover: "I haven't spoken to John yet, but my horse looked sluggish in the first part of the mile and then he came on a little bit and got up to get near some horses at the end and I'm happy to remain third. He goes on to the Matron from here and then that's it for this year. We knew we were just racing for second place when we were racing against Muscle Hill."
Poof Shes Gone Takes Freshman Filly Trot
Elimination winner Poof Shes Gone rallied from off the pace to prevail in the $617,880 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot Saturday evening at Woodbine Racetrack.
Ultimate Cameron (Mike Lachance) left from Post 6 with outside starter Levis Lady (Tim Tetrick) parked to the opening quarter in :28.4. Levis Lady pressed on and claimed the lead down the backstretch while Dave Miller angled Poof Shes Gone from fifth.
As the field raced to the half in :58.2, Ultimate Cameron pulled the pocket and moved up for the re-take with Costa Rica (Ron Pierce) following and Poof Shes Gone spotted second over. Costa Rica advanced to the lead during the third interval with Poof Shes Gone threatening at her neck as they reached the third checkpoint in 1:26.3. The daughter of Kadabra-Travelin Superlite pulled ahead down the lane to prevail in 1:56.3 by a length.
Ultimate Cameron stayed for second at odds of 103-1 with Tequila Slammer (Paul MacDonell) coming in third.
David Miller drove winner Poof Shes Gone: "Poof raced great. She went a big, big mile there. I had to come early and got left first over and she just overpowered them. She's such a good horse. Her best quality is she can do that. She's a strong filly and she can rough it. She's the complete package."
"Definitely worth the $170,000 yearling price tag," commented co-owner John Fielding of Toronto, Ont. "She's been a fantstic filly since 'Nifty' [trainer Richard Norman] took her home from the sale. It's been a fantastic year.”
Poof Shes Gone is now nine-for-11 in her debut season with $926,326 banked.
"The Norman family, Nifty and his wife and his daughter, do a great job with her. She's been tough all year from the Merrie Annabelle in August to today. Great to see Nifty get his first Crown, he's a fantastic horseman."
Melvin Hartman of Ottawa, Herb Liverman of Miami Beach, Florida and David McDuffee of Nashua, New Hampshire also share ownership.
Mike Lachance, driver of Ultimate Cameron (second): "She has always been a flawlessly gaited filly and has given solid efforts all year. Bob [trainer Stewart] made some changes on her this week but the biggest change he made was to switch her shoes to all aluminum plates and she was able to get a hold of the track so much better then last week. It was a very good effort."
Bob Stewart, trainer of Ultimate Cameron: "We made the shoeing change her and it really paid off. She was an easy horse to make that change on because she really doesn't need any weight on her feet. It was the first time I've ever done that with a two-year-old."
Paul MacDonell on third-place Tequila Slammer: "She didn't get away from the gate from where I thought she was. She was a little stiff and wasn't 100 percent but she trotted through it and after the quarter pole things straightened up. She had a chance to be second for sure and third was all she wanted."
Steven Sills, assistant trainer of Tequila Slammer: "I thought she raced really well, she wasn't trotting 100 percent, but she did keep going forward. That's it for her for the rest of the year and she gets turned out tomorrow and hopefully she'll grow up a bit and be right there for all the big races next year."
Pilgrims Taj Crowned A Winner
Pilgrims Taj rallied off second-over cover and swept past the dueling leaders in late stretch to capture the $617,880 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Trot Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
Magic Fruit (Steve Condren) blasted to the lead from Post 7 flashing a :28.1 first quarter, but he was overtaken as a parked out Temple Of Doom (Dave Miller) rolled to the top. After a :57.4 half, elimination winner Lucky Chucky (John Campbell) launched his challenge from fifth and became the new leader before the 1:26.3 third quarter.
From there, Magic Fruit moved back out providing the other elim winner Pilgrims Taj
and Mike Lachance, who sat sixth through the early panels, with cover around the final turn. Magic Fruit locked in a duel with leader Lucky Chucky down the lane, but Pilgrims Taj was full of pace and swept up on the outside for the 1:57.1 victory by a length.
Lucky Chucky battled back for second over Magic Fruit.
"I got away even better than what I thought," said Lachance following the race. "Something that surprised me a little bit was that John didn't leave the gate with his horse and I had him in front of me. On the backstretch I couldn't keep up to him. He was trotting too fast for what I wanted to go with my horse. But I didn't care if I was on the outside on the last turn. My horse loves that. After all, we got lucky. You can't give too much credit for yourself. When you hit a horse like that, the horse hits you. We just got lucky to be involved with a horse like that."
"Unbelievable, a dream come true,” gushed longtime owner Robert Bongiorno, who won his first Crown tonight with his first starter. “I groomed horses for nothing for years, trained them for many years, and now I'm here. It's a great thrill.
"The bias was against us with the wind in the stretch, but he overcame it. Mike has done a great job driving him, Monte Gelrod did a great job training him up until coming to Canada and now Keith [Armer] has also done a great job.”
Pilgrims Taj now sports seven wins and three seconds on his record in 10 starts this year with $746,939 earned. Peter Heffering of Port Perry, Ont., Bix L Di Meo of Red Bank and Val Dor Farms of Millstone, New Jersey also share ownership of the Broadway Hall-BWT Maija colt.
John Campbell on second-place Lucky Chucky: "He raced well, but he's not quite as sharp as he was last week. I really thought we'd get there but Mike's [Lachance] horse just got by us. It was a good horse race, but you always hope to win a race like this."
Steve Condren on third-place Magic Fruit: "If he'd have had cover around the turns, it might have made a difference. He had a tough trip and I had to use him twice and I think that made a difference for him winning the crown. Overall he raced very well."
Per Henriksen, trainer of Magic Fruit: "Very happy with the way he raced. We got a good cheque and from here he goes on to the Gold elims here and then the Finals and Super Finals."
A Fancy Crown For A Fancy Filly
World Champion Fancy Filly got up in deep stretch to prevail over pacesetter Put On A Show in the $628,178 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
Ticket To Rock (John Campbell) secured the early lead and put up a :27.3 opening quarter. From there, Three Diamonds winner Fancy Filly rushed up from third under the guidance of Brian Sears with favourite Put On A Show hot on her heels and angling three-wide to get up for the lead at the :56.2. half. Put On A Show stepped on the accelerator heading to the third interval in 1:24, but that third quarter panel proved to be too much for the leader as Fancy Filly, the 5-2 third choice, converted from the pocket and was able to push past Put On A Show before hitting the wire in 1:53.4.
Put On A Show finished a length behind and Ticket To Rock (John Campbell) rounded out the top three.
"The filly has got a lot of fight in her," said Sears. "The other filly paced away from her a little bit, but she never knows to quit. She dug right in and chased her down. I was really happy to win with her because I got a bad trip when I finished third with her in the She's A Great Lady. I was glad to make up for it. She's a really nice filly. She deserves this."
"She raced all year long and has always stepped up. It's vacation time for her," commented George Teague, who co-owns the Western Hanover-Fanciful Hanover filly with Theodore Gewertz of New York, New York and Only Money Inc. of Hartly, Delaware. "She’s been awesome all year long, never been anything but impressive."
"A Breeders Crown is always nice to get. She started the season well and this puts a polish on the season. She'll get time off now and we'll bring her back for next season. She doesn't seem any worse for wear. She seems as fresh as the day we started. She loves what she's doing. That's one of the qualities only in the great ones. They love to do what they do and she can race any way. She doesn't have to take her racetrack with her."
Chris Ryder, trainer of Put On A Show (second): "She raced really tough and it's a bit of a disappointment but I'm still happy with her effort. I thought we kind of had it late in the lane but that other horse had the benefit of an inside post, which I think helped."
Jody Jamieson, driver of Put On A Show: "I didn't know when to hit the button with her, but I didn't want to get after her too early. At the three-quarters I let the ear plugs out and she really dug in and was pretty gritty all the way home. Brian (Sears, driving Fancy Filly) had the benefit of the two hole and he was able to track behind me and slingshot off the turn and get by us. The nine-hole really didn't help us at all tonight. But I'm still happy with my filly's effort, she just got out-gunned at the wire."
Jack Darling, trainer of Ticket To Rock (third): " I couldn't be happier. I came into the race just hoping to get a cheque and would have been very happy to finish fifth so third is a bonus."
John Campbell, driver of Ticket To Rock: "Raced very well, and I was very happy to have hit the board with her. Her last race was a little deceiving. She was a little stronger than she looked on paper. She got backed up around the last turn and had more pace here coming home than she did in Lexington. All in all I'm very happy to be third."
Fancy Filly have won 10 times and has yet to finish off the board in 12 starts. The lion’s share of the purse pushed her earnings to $840,926.
Sears Triples With Broadway Schooner
Hambletonian Oaks winner Broadway Schooner rallied from way back to win the $617,880 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot and give driver Brian Sears a Crown hat trick Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
Seaside (Dave Miller) hustled to the lead from Post 8 in the early going while Broadway Schooner settled in seventh after leaving from Post 7. After passing the first quarter in :28.1, Yursa Hanover (Tim Tetrick) launched a first-over bid from third and was on top by the half in :57.1. She led the way to three-quarters in 1:26 while elimination winner Elusive Desire (Paul MacDonell) moved to the outside with fellow elim winner and favourite Margarita Momma (Ron Pierce) following her cover and Raising Rachel (Jack Moiseyev) third-over. In the stretch, Elusive Desire struck the front, but the backfield had sprung to life resulting in a thrilling finish with Broadway Schooner flying home on the far outside to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.
Elusive Desire held on for second with Seaside squeezing up the rail for third.
"Sensational, it's the first time we've had a homebred win a Breeders Crown,” said an ecstatic Jules Siegel in the winner’s circle. “We've had another wins, but this is our first with a homebred."
Siegel co-owns the Broadway Hall-Pine Schooner miss with his wife, Arlene. The James Campbell pupil has put together a sophomore record reading 7-5-1 in 16 earning $878,476. The win was her eighth overall giving her nearly $900,000 in earnings.
"The trip worked out good," said Sears. "They were battling it out and my filly, she's kind of like a one-speeder, but it's a long stretch and we were able to get by them. I'm really happy to do some more good for Arlene and Jules; they're great owners and have a lot of passion for the business."
Driver Paul MacDonell on Elusive Desire (second): "I can't say anything bad about her, she's been tremendous all year and tonight just got beat. She has no excuses. The wind is very strong and very tiring on these horses and it's not easy out there. The track really isn't that bad, but the wind is giving these horses a tough time. My filly is just great and I can't say enough good about her."
David Miller driving Seaside (third): "She left the gate very well and got covered up by Yursa Hanover and kind of got balled up the rest of the way. Got caught in behind them and never got through. She raced very well and I was happy with her effort. She was just fair coming home as leaving had taken quite a big out of her."
All Speed Hanover Nips Sportswriter
All Speed Hanover fired three-wide around the final turn and nipped the undefeated Sportswriter at the wire in the $720,860 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt Pace on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack.
Heavy favourite Sportswriter flashed early gate speed leaving from Post 2 with Ok Commander (Doug McNair) charging up from Post 8 and remaining parked out in second with Post 9 starter Malicious (Paul MacDonell) three-wide heading into the first turn. The first quarter was up in :27.4 with Sportswriter leading the pack down the backstretch.
Ok Commander applied heavy pressure to the half in :55.4 with Malicious dropped in behind and 2-1 second choice All Speed Hanover angling out from sixth with Ron Pierce at the controls. Pierce sent his charge three-wide past three-quarters in 1:23.3 and the Cams Card Shark-Allamerican Cool colt hooked up with the leader in the stretch. All Speed Hanover poked a head in front with Sportswriter digging deep and battling back, but in the end it was All Speed Hanover who prevailed by a nose in 1:52. Kyle Major (Jody Jamieson) finished third.
"The trip worked out good for us," said Pierce after the win. "There was pressure on [Sportswriter] and we kind of needed something like that to happen because there wasn't much of a flow. I just tipped this colt out and let him pace on his own. He paced right by them and then the other colt fought back, fought back real tough, but we were able to hold him off. He's pretty special. I have to give [trainers] Mike Vanderkemp and Noel Daley all the credit. They do all the work. I just kind of sit there and point him."
"Unbelievable race, can't take anything away from Sportswriter - he was huge,” said co-owner John Fielding, who scored his second Crown tonight. “What a great three-year-old year it looks to be for both colts."
"That was a great show and I hope it's a sign of things to come for those two colts,” added co-owner Adam Victor, Jr., who is a part of the Adam Victor And Son Stable of New York, New York. “We don't have enough stretch drives like that."
The win was All Speed Hanover's fifth in seven starts lifting his earnings to $497,390.
Mark MacDonald, driver of beaten favourite and second-place finisher Sportswriter: "This was a tough race to lose, especially the way he lost it. But it doesn't diminish the great season that he's had. At the head of the stretch Ronnie was past me by almost a length but then my colt dug in and came right back and just battled with him the whole way down the stretch. Just past the wire he was by that horse again. This is the last race for him for the year."
Jody Jamieson driving Kyle Major, finishing third: "I was thrilled with this colt and it looked like he was going to get a good trip with those decent horses inside of him off the gate. I raced him tough in the Champlain and I thought he had a real shot tonight. I thought he'd give the other colts a run for their money, but third in here was good."
If I Can Dream Keeps The Crown In The Family
Millionaire pacer If I Can Dream joined his full brother Western Terror as Breeders Crown winners courtesy of his front-end score in the $617,880 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Pace Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
Carnivore (Jody Jamieson) left alertly from Post 7 and fired off a :26.2 opening quarter but was overtaken by a parked out If I Can Dream and Tim Tetrick, who left from Post 6, shortly after. The Western Hanover-Arterra colt carved out the remaining panels of :54 and 1:21.3, then held off the first-over challenger Mr Wiggles (Corey Callahan) and a late-closing Vertical Horizon (Jim Morrill, Jr.) to win in 1:51.1 by half a length.
"I used him hard, went big fractions to keep the rest of them behind me and he dug deep to win,” explained Tetrick. "He's raced tough all year, keeps putting in the big miles. I'm just happy to drive good horses."
If I Can Dream gave trainer Tracy Brainard and owner Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida their second Crown victory on the card. The Confederation Cup winner scored his 10th triumph in 19 starts this year and pushed his earnings to nearly $1.4 million. The bay now boasts 12 wins on his lifetime record with over $1.6 million banked.
Brenda Teague, trainer of second-place finisher Mr Wiggles: "When he raced first over like that I was very happy to see him dig in and hold on for second. I thought he raced tremendous and I'm very happy with his effort.
"He's got the Progress and Metro paces at Dover and then he'll have a little break," said George Teague, Jr. "He's definitely going to race next year unless someone offers an awful lot of money for him."
Ron Pierce, driver of favourite Well Said (fifth): "It just wasn't his night. He hasn't had that kind of luck-very bad luck-all year. It was just the worst possible luck that he could've had. When I went three-deep in the last turn I got pushed out and ended up four or five wide in the lane and it was just too far for him to go. He raced tough, but it was a horse race and it just wasn't his night."
Jim Morrill, Jr. driving Vertical Horizon (third): "I thought it was a good and exciting race and I cant' believe how tough that little horse is that won the race. I've driven him a couple of times and he is tough. I worked out a good trip with my horse and was happy with the ride, but would have been happier with second. Third is okay, however.
"You can't really put too much thought going into these races going for this much money. Anything can happen and you just have to wait for the wings to fold and you play it by ear. We went some pretty decent fractions in there, it was a very tiring track and I give a lot of credit to that horse that won it. My horse was grinding his way home and he was getting to them but he was third best."
Bigtime Ball Grabs The Gold
Bigtime Ball went all the way to capture the top prize in the $100,000 Gold Cup Invitational Pace Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack.
The millionaire son of Presidential Ball-Keystone Trinidad, sent postward as the bettor's choice, exploded off the gate from Post 5 with Paul MacDonell in tow and led the field through fractions of :26.4, :55 and 1:22.3 en route to victory in 1:50.3.
Art Official (Ron Pierce) finished a length behind in second while the first-over Shark Gesture (George Brennan) rounded out the top three.
Gord Irwin owns and trains the ultra-consistent five-year-old gelding, who has compiled a record reading 14-5-0 in 21 seasonal starts earning $496,692. Bigtime Ball, a winner of 27 races lifetime, pushed his bankroll to over $1.1 million tonight.
For results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Woodbine, click here.
(with quotes from WEG Media)