Breeders Crown: McWicked serves notice to Horse of the Year voters in Open Pace rout

Driver Brian Sears concluded a wicked Breeders Crown night, guiding McWicked to a scorching victory in the $430,000 event for Open Pacers. Sears concluded the dozen Crown championships with his third victory and perhaps the one that could lead McWicked to an overall Horse of the Year title.

The stakes were high going in, not just for McWicked but for rival Lazarus. The two had split the four decisions when they had gone head-to-head and the Crown was supposed to be the tiebreaker. What it turned into was nothing like that.

Filibuster Hanover blasted to the front from his pole position, seating Western Fame in the 26 1/5 opening fraction. At that point Yannick Gingras moved second choice Lazarus to the outside and bolted towards the front, reaching the lead passing the stands and posting a relatively calm 55 2/5 half. Sears was content to race McWicked without cover, and he was on the move before the halfway point. The 7-year-old kicked into high gear on the backstretch and surged pass Lazarus with relative ease, sprinting his third quarter in 27 seconds flat and leaving Lazarus in his wake.

It was a one-horse race from then on as Sears let McWicked sprint home in 27 1/5, easily besting Filibuster Hanover, who was severely victimized by the shuffle when Lazarus weakened. Donttellmeagain rallied for third in the 1:49 3/5 mile paced over a sloppy surface. Rockin Ron was fourth and Western Fame took fifth.

"I didn't know how much pace Yannick really had down the backside," explained Sears. "It looked like maybe I could clear, but I didn't really want to engage too hard. He just went on his own. The horse has just been a pleasure all year. He's so easy to drive and does everything you want."

Now with 10 wins in 17 starts this year, McWicked, owned by S S G Stables and trained by Casie Coleman, upped his career earnings to more than $3.7 million while returning $3.80 as the 3-5 public choice.

"Every time we put him behind the gate he's awesome, but not many horses do this at all, especially being as old as he is," remarked Coleman. "He's as good as he's ever been right now. I think he's better right now than when he was three.

"Ed James has literally had four different farms now call him or contact me, as far as I know Ed hasn't called one of them back yet. They're all asking me what he's doing, and I don't know. I'd like to race. I don't own any of him, so I'd love to race. I believe he's going to race next year, but that's 100 percent up to Ed James. He's having a lot of fun right now."