Breeders Crown: 2YO Colt Pace eliminations go to Starstruck Dreamer, Blazin Lou

Starstruck Dreamer was successful in his first outing since September 7, while Blazin Lou backed up his two-for-two run through the Grand Circuit Meet at The Red Mile in $25,000 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Pace eliminations on Friday night at Eldorado Scioto Downs.

Driven by Todd McCarthy in the the second elimination, Starstruck Dreamer settled into fifth to the 27 1/5 quarter while Seine (Joe Bongiorno) and Night Surfer (Dexter Dunn) both had a turn on the lead. Shalom Hanover (Louis Roy) would then take charge in the second panel and went on to click off the half in 55 1/5 as McCarthy vacated the pylons with Starstruck Dreamer to go first-up.

Shalom Hanover maintained command to three-quarters in 1:23 2/5, but Starstruck Dreamer made steady progress on the rim to that station and around the final bend, then forged his way by Shalom Hanover in the stretch. From there, Starstruck Dreamer had to hold off the passing lane attack of Night Surfer, which he did by a quarter of a length in 1:50 2/5. Shalom Hanover was fourth, followed by Stonebridge Blitz (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.).

"He was really strong, and Shalom Hanover raced great, too," said McCarthy. "They're two horses that hadn't raced in a little while, so they definitely needed the start under their belt. They finished up really strong."

Bred by Sergent Stables LLC., Starstruck Dreamer is trained by Noel Daley for owners Steve Wienick Racing LLC., Pryde Stables Inc., Jfoderatritchiecanamerica and Hyatt Holdings Inc. The Captaintreacherous colt has a summary of 6-1-0 from seven tries, has banked $230,500 and paid $5.80 to win.

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Back in the first elimination, Ocean Party (Chris Page) hit the opening quarter in 27 seconds before he was overtaken by Metro champion Eastie Boy (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) prior to the 56 3/5 half. Watching that from fourth had been Blazin Lou (Dunn), and he would go on the attack on the way to the 1:24 4/5 three-quarters. Blazin Lou would go by Eastie Boy late on the last turn, then opened up through the lane to score by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:50 4/5. Eastie Boy was second over Mr Bear (Marcus Miller) with L A Captain (Bob McClure) fourth. Ocean Party wound up advancing to the final as well as he was the fifth-place finisher with the higher earnings from the two eliminations.

A Tony Dinges-trained Sweet Lou colt, Blazin Lou is owned by Rick Berks. The Cornerstone Stock Farm-bred has five wins, a second and two thirds from 11 outings, has pocketed $169,550 and returned $5 to win.

"I was expecting him to race good. I didn't know what kind of trip we would get from (post eight), but I didn't think it really mattered as long as everything went smooth," Dinges remarked. "He showed (talent) all along, but I kind of thought that he would really pick up when he got to The Red Mile, and ever since then he's just gone forward."

Here is the draw for next Friday's Grade 1 $700,000 final. The two elimination winners drew for post positions from one through six for the final.

1-Blazin Lou
2-Mr Bear
3-Ocean Party
4-Starstruck Dreamer
5-Shalom Hanover
6-Eastie Boy
7-Night Surfer
8-Stonebridge Blitz
9-L A Captain