Breeders Crown: $7.56 million on the line at Scioto this weekend

The $7.56 million Breeders Crown rolls into Scioto Downs this weekend (Oct. 23 & 24) to mark the first time Ohio has hosted any of the championship races since the 1980s. Twelve rich finals will be contested over the Friday and Saturday 14-race cards with a post time of 6:00 PM (EDT).

While the Breeders Crown doesn’t necessarily mark the end of the stakes season for Standardbred racing, it is one of the final pieces to the puzzle as voters decide Dan Patch divisional honors. With an elimination round that saw a number of upsets, the storylines are certainly overflowing and many races – along with year-end awards – are up for grabs.

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Friday’s 2-Year-Old Finals

If there is such a thing as a favorite to win the 2027 Hambletonian, it would certainly be Wrong Sounds Right. The 2-year-old Tactical Landing-sired colt will certainly be the chalky option to win the $700,000 Breeders Crown Colt & Gelding Trot (Race 10). He landed post six after the easiest of elimination victories in 1:53 1/5 and has now won four straight races.

“I was very happy,” said trainer Jim Campbell. “[Driver] Todd [McCarthy] said he was well in hand. It was his first time racing on three turns, and he handled everything very well. That's just kind of the way he's been. Whatever we've thrown at him, he's just been a real professional, and we couldn't be happier with him than we were [in the elim].”

Perhaps the marquee race on Friday is the $700,000 Breeders Crown pacing final for rookie colts and geldings (Race 11). Starstruck Dreamer will be the favorite after coming first-over and winning his elimination in 1:50 2/5 for driver Todd McCarthy, but the talent runs deep in the field. Shalom Hanover (Louis Roy) finished third behind Starstruck Dreamer after missing four weeks of action. Those two both have one win in two career starts against the other. The field also features the red-hot Blazin Lou (Dexter Dunn), who won his elimination from the difficult post eight in 1:50 4/5 and now has three straight victories.

“I was just looking for him to get in there, really,” said trainer Noel Daley on Starstruck Dreamer. “He'd been sick on me, so he's trained three light trips in the last week; that's all he's done in a month. I knew he was no longer sick, but everything pointed to him not being ready, and he won it anyhow.”

“He raced well, but I couldn’t prep him the way I wanted for that race,” said trainer Dr. Ian Moore on Shalom Hanover. “To be at that level, I just didn’t have enough time. I had to give him time to recover from that retention barn injury he incurred in his forearm [causing him to be scratched from the Metro Pace final Sept. 26] and his training was the qualifier on [Oct. 9], that was it. He’ll be better [this] week, I’m hoping, and he drew OK [post 5] so we should be all right.”

“I was expecting him to race good,” said Blazin Lou’s conditioner Tony Dinges. “I didn't know what kind of trip we would get from out there, but I didn't think it really mattered as long as everything went smooth. I kind of expect a pretty good effort out of him every week.”

The fillies will also have the spotlight in a pair of $700,000 finals on the pace and trot. Elimination winner Blue Ranger is perhaps the one to beat in the filly trot and Cowboy Candy is the presumptive early choice in the pace.

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3-Year-Olds and Older to be Crowned Saturday

The battle for Horse of the Year could be decided on Saturday as the leader in the industry Top 10 poll Super Chapter as well as his main competition Brandon Blvd will both be in action.

Super Chapter wasn’t in the lineup on elimination night as he accepted a bye into the Breeders Crown $600,000 Open Trot Final (Race 3). The Marcus Melander trainee has compiled seven wins and two seconds in nine races and hasn’t lost since July 11 – five straight stakes wins. Dexter Dunn will drive Super Chapter from post eight as the 2-1 morning line favorite.

“Of course it would have been nice to have [post] three or four, but I think he was so good [at Dayton] and he's been great all year,” said Melander. “He's just been fantastic, so I think he can overcome it.”

Brandon Blvd did appear in the eliminations last week and only finished second after racing very conservatively behind a slow pace set by race-winner Melillo. Despite the loss, Brandon Blvd will be the likely favorite at post time in the $664,500 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Pace Final (Race 9) as he looks to secure his divisional Dan Patch Award versus a strong group that includes the aforementioned Melillo, stablemate and multiple Grade 1 winner Al Papi, along with Gentleman’s Club, who was a very impressive 1:48 3/5 uncovered winner in his elimination last weekend.

“I probably wish I could’ve keep punching forward early with how slow the second quarter was. Hindsight's always easier afterwards. But he raced great, felt great, came a great back half, and he's still going to be ready to roll on Saturday night,” said driver Dexter Dunn on Brandon Blvd.

The $662,000 Open Pace closes out the Saturday Crown action in race 10 and it is always an interesting race. Will the 1:46 4/5 track record be in jeopardy with the likes of elimination winners Women Layer and Dandy Ideal as well as the proven speedy Best Chip and millionaires Ervin Hanover, Prince Hal Hanover, Coaches Corner, Ken Hanover, Swingtown and Bythemissal? This is must-watch racing!

The 3-year-old filly pace division (Race 5) has been a bit of a scrum all year and much will be decided on Saturday in the $664,500 final. Miss Jum Jabber has two Sire Stakes titles but no Graded wins. She will also have to overcome post eight on Saturday. Sangria Summer set a 1:49 3/5 track record in her elimination and has multiple graded wins on the year. Hope Hill also won her elimination (1:50) and has now won three straight. Whoomp is the Indiana champion looking to prove she is the crème of the crop after a gutsy first-over second in her elimination. Which horse will walk away with the Crown is anybody’s guess.

In what is perhaps a four-way battle for divisional honors, Hambletonian winner Apex and runner-up Big Ranger meet up with Graded stakes winners Nix Nacken and Inexpressable in the $664,500 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot Final (Race 8). Apex leads by a healthy margin in earnings (over $200K) but hasn’t won in three starts. Big Ranger was sharp in a 1:51 1/5 elimination win but still lacks a Graded win. Nix Nacken has come on late with wins in the Grade 1 Canadian Trotting Classic and Kentucky Futurity. He would go over the million-dollar mark with a win on Saturday. Inexpressable owns wins in the Grade 2 Earl Beal Memorial and Yonkers Trot. It all comes down to the Breeders Crown!

Finally, everyone will want to tune in to watch what could be one of the final couple of races in the career of former Dan Patch Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh. The 6-year-old could become the third-richest pacing mare in history (behind Eternal Camnation and Anndrovette) with a win in the seventh race $443,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace. Twin B Joe Fresh was an in-hand 1:49 4/5 elimination winner with co-owner/driver Dexter Dunn at the controls for trainer Chris Ryder. They’ll have their hands full with Francent N, a Graded stakes winner who was a good second behind “Fresh” in the elimination round.

Eight championship races are on the docket for Saturday and both cards feature a number of special wagering opportunities, $185,000 in multi-race guarantees in total.

-Some quotes courtesy Ken Weingartner