The Breeders Crown isn\u2019t on most people\u2019s radar this weekend. But perhaps it should be.<\/p>\n
Harness racing\u2019s biggest event returns to Woodbine Mohawk Park for the first time since 2022. On Friday, the four two-year-old finals will be contested. Then on Saturday, year-long scores will finally be settled in the four three-year-old and four older-horse divisions.<\/p>\n
The sport\u2019s megastars will all be there. Ron Burke leads all trainers with 23 starters spread amongst the 12 races. And Dexter Dunn will look to be the leading driver in the event for the fifth consecutive year.<\/p>\n
This is the one North American championship event being held in southern Ontario where seating is free, there are giveaways on both nights, and where fans can still track the Blue Jays on monitors throughout the grandstand between races. And perhaps with some work, there\u2019s money to be made too.<\/p>\n
At the top of the marquee on Friday are two outstanding juveniles. Ontario-sires Beau Jangles will look to cap a perfect 12-for-12 season in the $959,000 two-year-old colt pace. Trainer Dr. Ian Moore said the colt, who comfortably won his elimination last week in 1:49 1\/5 is still sharp despite a busy campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what happens with this colt, it has been a heck of a ride for all of us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe thoroughly enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why we train these babies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other elimination winner, Brandon Blvd, is a main rival as is Show Me Your Ace from the rail.<\/p>\n
Burke has a potential superstar in Loua Dipa, who heads the $959,000 two-year-old filly pace. She\u2019s coming here having won 8 of 11 starts but a dominant win in the Shes A Great Lady at Mohawk and a world-record 1:48 clocking at the Red Mile has the harness world buzzing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m honestly surprised,\u201d Burke said. \u201cWhen we trained her early, we thought she was a nice filly and then every start, we thought maybe she\u2019ll get better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we found out she\u2019s special. She does things other horses don\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heading the $959,000 two-year-old filly trot are elimination winners Nezuko Kamado and Storybook Love. Nezuko Kamado comes here for trainer Marcus Melander off a 1:53 1\/5 clocking while Storybook Love was just a tick slower.<\/p>\n
Mohawk Million winner Apex will get a challenge from Diabolic Hill in the $959,000 two-year-old colt trot. Melander also trains Apex, a son of Walner who has already passed the $1 million mark in earnings but has not raced since that Sept. 20 outing.<\/p>\n
The leading contender for horse of the year headline\u2019s Saturday\u2019s festivities. But Louprint goes into the $822,000 three-year-old colt pace off his first loss of the year, falling just a nose short of Dandy Ideal in the elimination. Nonetheless Burke feels the North America Cup and Little Brown Jug champion can regain his form.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard to race from the back and he was at the back,\u201d he said about the elimination heat. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like we weren\u2019t coming, it was just that (Dandy Ideal) held us off.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Dandy Ideal, Prince Hal Hanover and Meadowlands Pace champ Madden Oaks could post an upset.<\/p>\n
Reigning horse-of-the-year Twin B Joe Fresh is heavily favored in the $548,000 open mare pace. Early in the year, the five-year-old was getting bettered by Sylvia Hanover but lately, the Chris Ryder trainee has regained her form, clocking a personal best 1:47 3\/5 at the Red Mile in her last start.<\/p>\n
The $548,000 open mare trot will be a battle with the likes of MMs Dream, Date Night Hanover, Warrawee Michelle, Elista Hanover, and defending champ Call Me Goo all gunning for top honors.<\/p>\n
Yo Tillie is the 7-5 favorite in the $910,365 three-year-old filly trot off a 10-win season for trainer Andrew Harris. She will be pressured though by 9-5 second-choice Delaney Hanover. Both fillies won their eliminations in impressive fashion.<\/p>\n
Miki And Minnie is the standout in the $822,000 three-year-old filly pace. The Ryder-trained pupil already has more that $2 million in the bank off 17 career wins. Unreasonable, who finished just a head off her in the elimination, should get support for trainer Erv Miller.<\/p>\n
The $822,000 three-year-old colt trot is another contested battle with Canadian Trotting Classic winner Emoticon Legacy a slight favorite. Last year\u2019s Mohawk Million winner Maryland remains in great form with Melander-trained stablemate Super Chapter also very much in the hunt.<\/p>\n
Ontario-bred Lexus Kody has been on a tear lately and heads the $822,000 open trot. Another member of the \u2018Burke Brigade\u2019, the seven-year-old has blossomed after wins in the Maple Leaf Trotting Classic and the Yonkers International Trot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a horse that when we train him, we can train him from anywhere,\u201d Burke said. \u201cWe can sit him back. We can move him around. We can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took him this long, until he was seven years old, how to figure it out and do it in races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Periculum and French Wine will be his main contenders.<\/p>\n
The action concludes with the $822,000 open pace and another battle royal. Ervin Hanover is the 2-1 favorite but breathing down his neck are the likes of Ken Havover, Captain Albano, Nijinsky, and Maximus Miki.<\/p>\n
First-race post time in Campbellville is 6:35 p.m. both nights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Breeders Crown isn\u2019t on most people\u2019s radar this weekend. But perhaps it should be. Harness racing\u2019s biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[170072,40351,170076,1071,170073,170075,79,16,15,170074],"class_list":{"0":"post-523801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-breeders-crown","9":"tag-elimination","10":"tag-marcus-melander","11":"tag-racing","12":"tag-ron-burke","13":"tag-southern-ontario","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-woodbine-mohawk-park"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115427106010608708","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}