In what has become a rite of passage for states which have married casino profits with racing, the prestigious Breeders Crown year-end championships will be coming to Ohio's Scioto Downs in 2026 for the first time since 1988. The last time any Ohio track hosted the series was 1995. Begun in 1984, the Breeders Crown originated as a roving series that visited multiple tracks each year until 1997 when a two to three tracks rotation became more the norm. Northfield Park and the Delaware County Fairgrounds were the last two tracks in the Buckeye State to play host to the event some 30 years ago. Two Crown races have been contested at Scioto, the 1986 Open Mare Trot won by Grades Signing with Herve Filion in the bike, and the 1988 Open Pace captured by Call For Rain in 1:53 2/5 for Clint Galbraith. Other than 1998 when Colonial Downs made a cameo host appearance, the Meadowlands, along with either Mohawk or Woodbine in Canada, served as the site for the Breeders Crown series from 1997 to 2009. At that point The Downs at Pocono helped place Pennsylvania firmly on the national map by hosting the series in 2010 and again in 2013 and 2018. Indiana joined the mix in 2017 and became the new partner with the Meadowlands and Woodbine Mohawk Park as part of a three-track rotation for the important division-deciding championships. With Ohio horses making serious noise on the national scene over the last decade, there has been a strong calling from those within the state to bring the Breeders Crown back, and the folks at Caesars, which runs both Harrah's Hoosier Park and Eldorado Scioto Downs, were happy to comply. "We are thrilled to have it [at Scioto Downs]," said Caesars Senior Vice President of Racing Joe Morris. "I'm excited about it and the Ohio horsemen are excited. I've raced with a lot of horsemen's groups over the years, and I don't think I've been involved with a better group of racers than the Ohio Harness Horsemen." Ohio Harness Horseman's Association Executive Director Frank Fraas echoed the excitement shown by Morris. "We are thrilled to have the Breeders Crown in Columbus at Scioto Downs," said Fraas, who also mentioned numerous positive comments he has gotten from harness racing fans and horsemen since the announcement. "I think it is just great that we'll be getting the Breeders Crown in Ohio. With the history in the state – especially the fact that we have four pari-mutuel tracks and 66 county fairs that we race at – to bring this event here is unbelievable." When hosting an event such as the Breeders Crown there needs to be a certain infrastructure in place to accommodate the crowd, and Morris feels Scioto is finally ready to take on the challenge. "We put quite a commitment into that property. We tore down the old grandstand and built a new one. We built a 16-race indoor paddock. They have a great staff there and what a great place it is to watch a race," said Morris. "It's a five-eighths track, and it has been a while since the series has been on a track that size. It is smaller facility but we have the old clubhouse still which seats 600 and the grandstand can accommodate another 1,000. In all we can get about 2,500 people in; that's a good crowd to watch the races. And it is right next to the track. You can't get closer to a track than where we put that grandstand." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter In a world where casino companies that own racetracks tend to get a bad rap for not making major investments on the racing end, Caesars has bucked the trend when it comes to tracks like Scioto and Hoosier. They've made upgrades to the paddocks at both tracks and brought in new people like Gabe Prewitt, the recently hired Vice President and General Manager for Hoosier Park. "Caesars likes racing and that energizes me because they give me the tools that the racing team needs to put on a world-class act, and that's how Caesars wants it. They want me to put on as good a show as we can. I don't get any pushback. I only get support," said Morris, who also touched on the addition of Prewitt, who worked with the team at Pompano Park before it closed, and again as Director of Racing for Caesars properties. "We are thrilled to have Gabe on the team," continued Morris, who hinted that Prewitt may do some stuff to spark the Hoosier product. "Hoosier still has a couple of gears left in it. We are going to recalibrate it a little bit. It is a top three track in North America." For his part, Prewitt already announced the end of the Jackpot Pick 6 wager and is clearly considering removing the passing lane, a change that appears to have strong support from the wagering world, but we've been told lacks that same gusto from the horsepeople that compete over the track. In addition to his new position at Hoosier, Prewitt, who can't get enough racing action, plans to continue to have a presence at The Red Mile and nationally on the Fox Sports broadcasts. Getting back to Scioto Downs and the Breeders Crown, the track will have to do some schedule shifting to host the event as it typically closes in mid-September while the Breeders Crown series tends to take place in late October. Whether that will mean an extension of the normal racing schedule or a mini-meet to accommodate the Crown races has yet to be announced. Morris did confirm that the event will remain in October, and Fraas said the track has been discussing the possibilities with the Racing Commission. While there have been rumors swirling for months about Scioto Downs getting the Breeders Crown, after it was revealed officially at the Dan Patch Awards in Florida, there was some chatter from people that don't care for the series being contested over the smaller five-eighths surface. The smaller track (Meadowlands is a mile and Mohawk and Hoosier are seven-eighths) reduces the number of starters that can have their heads on the gate to nine, down from 10 at the Meadowlands for instance, and that is a fair point. The other argument people bring up is about the difficulty level of winning from an outside post on a five-eighths oval. Statistically, it really doesn't hold water. At Scioto in 2024 horses starting from post nine won just 5.6% of the races and posts seven and eight won at 8.7% and 7.4%, respectively. At Hoosier last year, post nine won a paltry 4.6% of the time and post eight was only slightly better at 7.6%. It is worth noting that post seven came in at 11.2% at Hoosier in 2024, 2.5% higher than Scioto. "Scioto is a great five-eighths-mile track, so I don't think there will be an issue with it. There have been a few comments on Facebook about it, but I think it will be fine," said Fraas on racing over the smaller oval. Whether people are excited or unhappy about the Breeders Crown moving to Scioto Downs in 2026, it is a moot point. The Crown is coming to Ohio and I'll certainly be there! Perhaps standing next to Roger Huston, who called one of the last Ohio Breeders Crown races in 1995 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.