race recap

COACH STEFANOS SIZZLES LATE TO WIN BREEDERS CROWN OPEN PACE

By Frank Cotolo, for the Breeders Crown

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Coach Stefanos and driver James MacDonald swarmed a pair of longshots capitalizing from a melting pace to win the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace final at The Meadowlands on Saturday (Oct. 26) in a 1:48.3 mile.

From the moment the field left the gate, the aged pacers were raring to compete with defending champion Bythemissal. It's My Show, Ruthless Hanover and Abuckabett Hanover muscled towards the top ahead of race-favorite Bythemissal to a first-panel battle in :26. Abuckabett Hanover chanced pacing hard from that point on, speeding to the lead and upping the tempo through a :53.2 half. Bythemissal took to the outer tier from fourth and revved his engines, giving cover to Seven Colors. The field was in two rows in the final turn and to three-quarters in 1:21.1.

Getting only calls for trailing, MacDonald moved Coach Stefanos around the field and paved a path to unleash a blistering drive down the middle of the track five wide and swoop the field to hit the finish first by a half length.

"I was sitting last at the three-quarters," MacDonald said after the race, "and I said to myself, 'don't panic, this guy can close like a freight train.' And tonight he had a big finishing kick."

Second at the finish was Seven Colors, a rank outsider in the betting, as was third-place finisher El Rey, who defied late traffic to take advantage of a decent trip he got at the pylons.

Three double-digit payoffs hit the toteboard. Coach Stefanos paid $29.60 to win over a $61.40 place payoff for Seven Colors and a $69.40 show-priced El Rey.

"He raced great last week and he's good and healthy,” said trainer Erv Miller, who won for the second time in the Open Pace after taking the 2006 edition with Lis Mara. “I was smiling at the half while he was still racing last because he's closed in :25.1 many times."

Coach Stefanos is a 4-year-old gelding by Tellitlikeitis out of the Rocknroll Hanover mare Watch N Be Watched. It was his third win in 19 races this season and his share of the purse earned him millionaire status as he has now earned $1,265,206 for owners Kenneth Duffy, D&M Trading II LLC and Mr. John Stefanos. He was bred by Victory Hill Farm.