A total of eight Indiana sired trotters and pacers emerged from the Breeders Crown eliminations last week at Harrah’s Hoosier Park to compete for the prestigious titles in their divisions. Breeders Crown eliminations get underway Friday, Oct. 27 at 6:15PM featuring four divisions of two-year-old trotters and pacers, slated as Races 10 – 13 on the 15-race program.
M-Ms Dream (inside) battles with Refined during the Breeders Crown eliminations for older trotting mares. Refined won the race by a nose as the two mares face off again in the final. Photo by Dean Gillette
The first Indiana sired horse to step into the spotlight is Noblesville, who starts from post 10 in the two-year-old pacing colt and gelding division. Slated as Race 11, the $700,000 final features Captain Albano and Todd McCarthy from post two. The Captaintreacherous son is a winner in seven of eight starts this year and is tagged as the early morning line favorite. Noblesville will start from the second tier and look to get a good trip behind the favorites in front of him. Trained by Ron Burke, Noblesville, a son of JK Endofanera, has four wins this year with the quickest in 1:51.3 and more than $214,000 on his card. Ronnie Wrenn Jr. will drive Noblesville.
Two-year-old trotting colts and geldings will feature two from Indiana. Dashing Danny, driven by Kyle Wilfong, starts from post seven while Musclefantastic, driven by Robert Taylor, will start from post 10. Dashing Danny, trained by Jeff Cullipher, has won nine races this year. With a mark of 1:55.0, he has mor than $174,000 on his card. Musclefantastic comes into the Breeders Crown final with three wins. The only entrant with trotting hopples earned his best time of 1:55.1 for Taylor, who also trains, in his Super Final win two weeks ago. Both Dashing Danny and Musclefantastic will begin on the morning line with odds of 30-1 as they face the stellar Karl from the Nancy Takter barn. The Tactical Landing son is six for seven this year with a mark of 1:51.2 and more than $359,000 on his card. Also in the race is TCI, a son of Cantab Hall from the Ron Burke stable. He has won 10 of 11 starts and already has over $1 million on his card. David Miller will drive TCI while Yannick Gingras drives Karl.
Moving to Saturday evening’s Breeders Crown lineup, there will be a match-up again between Indiana’s M-M’s Dream and Refined. The two older trotting mares were a nose apart in the eliminations with Refined getting the edge. M-M’s Dream comes into the final with seven wins in 13 starts this year with a best time of 1:50.0. She has more than a half million earned this year and has won several major stakes, including the Hambletonian Maturity earlier this summer. M-M’s Dream, a daughter of Swan for All, will begin from post three with David Miller in the bike. Ron Burke trains the mare, who starts at odds of 7-2 in Race 8, the first Breeders Crown race on the Saturday card.
Helpfirstedition, a late supplement to the Breeders Crown, will begin from post five in the $672,000 Breeders Crown for three-year-old colts and geldings. The son of Helpisontheway comes into the race with eight wins in 19 starts and nearly $400,000 in earnings. His best time of 1:51.3 was taken in September. He will be vying for his third straight victory, winning the Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final and the Breeders Crown Elimination. He is 5-1 in Race 11 and will be driven by John DeLong.
Kobe’s Gigi, also a Breeders Crown Elimination winner for Trainer Missy Essig, will begin from post five in Race 12. The JK Endofanera five-year-old has four wins this year with a time of 1:50.1. Her career best time of 1:48.3 was taken last year at four. Dexter Dunn will sit behind Kobe’s Gigi at odds of 5-2 in the $400,000 Open Mares Pace.
Coach Stefanos will vie for the $600,000 purse in the three-year-old colt and gelding pace in Race 13. The Tellitlikeitis son has six wins this year with a best time of 1:48.4. Trace Tetrick will drive the Erv Miller trained standout, who paced home in :24.2 in his elimination win last week. He begins from post five at odds of 8-1.
Ponda Warrior will be the final Indiana sired horse in the final Breeders Crown of 2023. This year’s Dan Patch winner has three wins in nine starts and has not been worse than third all season. Guided by Kyle Wilfong for Trainer Jay Hochstetler, Ponda Warrior’s best time is 1:48.0. He is 12-1 on the morning line and starts from post four in the $600,000 final.
Breeders Crown will make its third stop in Indiana this season. Seating is available inside along with seating in the special event tent located trackside. For more information, call Harrah’s Hoosier Park at (765) 642-7223.