The first of three nights of Breeders Crown eliminations kicked off at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Thursday, Oct. 19 and two Indiana sired horses will compete in the finals next week. Dashing Danny and Musclefantastic finished fourth in their eliminations to advance to the final of the two-year-old trotting colt and gelding Breeders Crown Friday, Oct. 27.
Musclefantastic and Robert Taylor, on the far left, move up to finish fourth and advance to next week’s Breeders’ Crown finals. Photo by Dean Gillette
Dashing Danny and Kyle Wilfong were included in the first elimination. Starting from post five, they got away in third as Wild Ticket and Brian Sears grabbed the first quarter in :28.1. Heavily favored Karl and Yannick Gingras moved out and around to secure the top spot at the half in :57.2 and kept right on going. Karl led the field into the stretch and was well under wraps, winning by four and one-half lengths in 1:54.0. Mr Bluebird and Ake Svanstedt finished second followed by Geenspan and Dexter Dunn for third with Dashing Danny finishing fourth.
Dashing Danny is owned by Pollack Racing LLC and Jeff Cullipher after making a barn change through a private purchase in mid August. Jeff Cullipher trains the Dover Dan son who is nine for 16 this season. Only two of those starts have been worse than third. Dashing Danny’s best time to date is 1:55.0 taken in late August.
Musclefantastic and Robert Taylor were featured in the second elimination for freshman trotting colts and geldings. Starting from post six, Musclefantastic moved over to the inside as Private Access ad Louis Roy passed by the quarter in :27.2 before being overtaken by Dame Good Time and Scott Zeron, who went off stride just after the half in :57.3. Private Access reinherited the lead and was trotting well in hand until Situationship and Ake Svanstedt trotted up to challenge midway through the stretch. The two freshman colts battled each other to the wire with Private Access getting a half-length advantage at the finish line in 1:54.4. Security Protected and Tim Tetrick finished third while Musclefantastic was on the outside to finish fourth and advance to the Breeders Crown final.
Musclefantastic is trained by Robert Taylor and owned by Kyle and Jill Hupfer. The Muscle Massive colt heads to the Breeders Crown final off a win in the Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final the week prior to the elimination. Overall, he has three wins and more than $180,000 in earnings. His best time of 1:55.1 was taken in his Super Final victory at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
Breeders Crown eliminations continue Friday, Oct. 20 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.