As the prestigious 37th edition of the Breeders Crown nears, Harrah’s Hoosier Park is busy putting final touches on the event set for Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31. The team at the track will be busy the week before with preliminary rounds to set up the eight finals, and to help publicize the event, the October issue of “Hoof Beats” featured a story on the previous Breeders Crown event in Indiana. Rose Flood, race marketing and operations administrator at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, wrote the story that recaps the 1997 event.
A Breeders Crown preview is featured in the October issue of “Hoof Beats” to help set the tone for the event heading back to Indiana in 2020.
The main focus of the story was on the success of Indiana sired horses with Beckhams Z Tam, Fiftydallarbill and Hannelore Hanover all pulling in wins in their respective categories, forming a trio of Indiana sired winners. The story, filled with photos by Dean Gillette, also featured the longshot winner Pure Country in the older mares pacing division and Manchego, who became the sports first undefeated two-year-old trotting filly to win the Breeders Crown.
Although the Breeders Crown will take on a slightly different look this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the level of enthusiasm and hard work is still intact. Attendance will be limited per state regulations and all attendees for the event will require a pre-purchased ticket, which are being reserved for owners, sponsors and Indiana horsemen and horsewomen.
Events are already underway for this year’s Breeders Crown. The Breeders Crown Charity Challenge, presented by sponsor Libfeld-Katz Breeding Partnership, recently conducted its 2021 breeding auction at the Fasig-Tipton Sales in Lexington and raised a total of $105,000. Four
Indiana charities will benefit from the money raised, including Hoosier Burn Camp (linked to Indianapolis Colt Super Bowl Champ Jeff Saturday), AWS Foundation of Indiana (linked to Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch), ESPN Radio Personality Dan Dakich’s selected Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment and Julia Moffitt, WTHR news anchor, raising money for Morning Dove Therapeutic Riding. Former Standardbred racehorse Now Famous, owned by Rachel and Ross Leonard, is one of the therapy horses at Morning Dove.
The preview of the Breeders Crown in Hoof Beats is another example of the national attention brought into Indiana Standardbred racing by the event. Also, more than 20 Indiana sired horses currently racing are eligible to the upcoming event as it returns to Indiana in 2020.