race recap

Miki And Minnie marvels in grand Breeders Crown performance

by Ray Cotolo, for the Breeders Crown

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.— Forced into a first-over push midway up the backstretch, Miki And Minnie never ceased in her grind for the front and forged forward to a decisive 1:50.2 knockout in the $700,000 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Pace on Friday night (Oct. 25) at the Meadowlands.

Driver Dexter Dunn sent Miki And Minnie from post nine and found a position in fifth behind a :27.2 first-quarter skirmish wrapped with 1-2 favorite Looksgoodinloulou landing on the lead. With Rodeo Drive Deo swiftly angling from the pylons in seventh and marching forward, Dunn vacated his spot at the cones and began an advance towards Looksgoodinloulou into a :55.4 half. 

Looksgoodinloulou braced for pressure from Miki And Minnie through the final turn and maintained control by three-quarters in 1:24. Miki And Minnie persisted spinning for home and stuck a head in front of Looksgoodinloulou, who soon folded from the battle, to then edge away to a 1-3/4-length victory. The Last Martini burst from a pocket trip to take second with Rodeo Drive Deo finishing third and Looksgoodinloulou holding fourth.

“I definitely felt confidence in her,” Dunn said after the race. “She just got better and better as the year went on. I thought her elimination last week was really good; we had to use her extremely hard the first quarter and half. The draw was a little bit of a worry, but I was out at Chris [Ryder]’s farm this week, and [he] usually doesn’t say much, but I’ve never seen him so confident in a horse. So that filled me with confidence.”

Miki And Minnie, a homebred daughter of Always B Miki out of the Roll With Joe mare That’s The Ticket, collected her fifth win from 10 starts and has now banked $671,750 for owners Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz. Trainer Chris Ryder collected his second trophy in the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Pace, winning in this division with driver Dexter Dunn back in 2021 with Niki Hill. Dunn has won four of the last five years in this division, having won the 2023 2-Year-Old Filly Pace with Ron Burke trainee My Girl EJ in a stakes record 1:49.2.

Off the third choice at odds of 5-1, Miki And Minnie paid $13.60 to win.