Breeders Crown Eliminations & Race Synopsis
A total of 156 horses entered on Tuesday for the 12 Breeders Crown events at the Meadowlands. Eliminations are unnecessary for the 3-year-old male and female trotters, as well as the Open Pace, Mare Pace and Mare Trot, so those horses advance directly to their respective finals.
The $5.4 million Breeders Crown finals will be Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, Post time is 7:15 p.m. both nights. Finals for 2-year-old filly trotters, 3-year-old filly trotters, 3-year-old filly pacers and mare trotters will be held Nov. 21. The remaining eight finals will be Nov. 22.
K She’salady, unbeaten in 10 starts for trainer Nancy Johansson and owner 3 Brothers Stables, was among 15 two-year-old filly pacers to enter the Breeders Crown. The daughter of Art Major-Presidential Lady drew post five in the first of two $25,000 eliminations to be contested Friday. The top five finishers from each elim advance to the $500,000 final on Nov. 22.
Maven, purchased Saturday for $750,000 by Herb Liverman at the Standardbred Horse Sale’s Mixed Sale, will try to become the first female to win the Open Trot since Moni Maker in 1998.
The Open Trot attracted 14 entries, so a single elimination will be contested Saturday. The top six finishers will join Commander Crowe, Creatine, Intimidate, and Market Share – whose connections accepted byes – in the $500,000 final on Nov. 22. Commander Crowe received his bye by virtue of being a foreign invitee while the remaining three horses received byes based on seasonal earnings.
Maven, a 5-year-old daughter of Glidemaster-M Stewart, is a two-time Breeders Crown champion, having won the Mare Trot last year and the division for 3-year-old filly trotters in 2012. She is coming off a win in the Muscle Hill, her third victory in 11 starts this season. She drew post 10 for the elim.
The Open Trot features a deep field that includes past Breeders Crown champions Market Share, Intimidate, Arch Madness and Wheeling N Dealin, along with Commander Crowe. Market Share captured the Open Trot last season and will try to become the first horse to win this division in back-to-back years since Fool’s Goal in 2002 and 2003.
European star Commander Crowe is making his third Breeders Crown appearance. He finished third in his previous two Crown starts, to San Pail in 2011 and Chapter Seven in 2012. The last invited foreign horse to win the Breeders Crown Trot was Italian sensation Varenne, who captured the 2001 trophy with a then-world-record 1:51.1 at the Meadowlands.
Commander Crowe and Arch Madness, who is making a record seventh appearance in the Breeders Crown series, both have earned more than $4.25 million lifetime, placing them among the top six trotters in history for career purses. Arch Madness and Intimidate both won Breeders Crown trophies at the age of 3, while Wheeling N Dealin was the 2-year-old champion in 2012.
Sixteen horses entered the $531,250 Breeders Crown (Nov 22) for 3-year-old male pacers, with eight of the division’s top nine seasonal money-earners in the group. They are Adios winner McWicked, North America Cup champ JK Endofanera, Meadowlands Pace winner He’s Watching, Monument Circle winner Always B Miki, Little Brown Jug winner Limelight Beach, Adios runner-up Somewhere In L A, Jug runner-up Let’s Drink On It, and Cane Pace winner Lyonssomewhere.
Also entered is Luck Be Withyou, who captured last season’s Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male pacers. The last colt pacer to win at ages 2 and 3 was Artiscape in 1997 and 1998.
Fifteen horses entered the Breeders Crown for 3-year-old female pacers, where Uffizi Hanover, a daughter of Well Said-Up Front Dragonfly owned by Al Libfeld, Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband, will try for a second trophy. She won last year’s Crown for 2-year-old fillies and will try to become the first filly pacer since My Little Dragon in 2005-06 to win at ages 2 and 3.
Uffizi Hanover will start the second of two eliminations from post three on Friday. Supplemental entries Color’s A Virgin and Weeper, who rank No. 1 and 2, respectively, in seasonal earnings in the division, also are among the hopefuls vying to reach the $593,750 final on Nov. 21.
In The Arsenal (American Ideal-Ladyotra) has won six of nine starts, including the Matron Stakes, and brings a four-race win streak to the eliminations for 2-year-old male pacers. Go Daddy Go (Ponder-Sanfrancine) won the Battle of Waterloo and was second in the Governor’s Cup. Lyons Levi Lewis (Well Said-Tongue In Cheek) was second in the Metro Pace and Matron.
