The weather was unseasonably chilly on Tuesday (February 24) morning in Florida, but trainer George Ducharne wasn't complaining. The veteran conditioner had started early in the morning when it was but 30 degrees, and by the time he finished training his 2 and 3-year-olds, the temperature was more than comfortably above 60. It's a far cry from the Northeast where Ducharme still owns a house in Massachusetts. "I can't complain. It's going to be 80 later in the week," Ducharme said. With just over six weeks before Ducharme and his stable of 36 head north to Vernon Downs from their Spring Garden Ranch locale this winter, the serious training has begun, with some top-flight sophomore trotters hoping to graduate from Sire Stakes company into major Grand Circuit players. The $400K-earning Sharp Seven was a dominant performer in New York, capturing the rich final for Ducharme at Batavia. Just a $65,000 yearling daughter of the sport's leading sire Chapter Seven, Sharp Seven won five times in 11 starts, earning a juvenile record of 1:55 taken over Ducharme's base track at Vernon. "She was great over the smaller tracks," Ducharme said of Sharp Seven. "I think towards the end she got a little tired and maybe that had something to do with her size and racing over the big tracks." The diminutive filly had the advantage on New York's smaller ovals, but in her last two starts in the Big Apple at Vernon she couldn't threaten, finishing third in the $250,000 final on October 11 behind two solid fillies. "We were going to send her to the Breeders Crown," said Ducharme, who added that the efforts in her last two starts convinced them to quit and bring Sharp Seven back as a 3-year-old in 2026. "The two horses that beat her in the Big Apple finished one-two in the Breeders Crown," Ducharme said, quite aware of the depth of the New York Sire Stakes program with Storybook Love and Nezuko Kamado S shining brightest in the Crown. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter The Breeders Crown results, as well as a very different-looking filly, has Ducharme more than optimistic about Sharp Seven this year. "She's grown a lot and filled out," said Ducharme, hoping that a bigger and stronger filly will have the capacity to elevate her game for the bigger Grand Circuit races. "We've paid her into some Grand Circuit races," he continued, touching on Sharp Seven's schedule that could include a trip to the Meadowlands on the first Saturday in August for the Hambletonian Oaks. Ducharme had another quality filly he raced as a freshman in 2025, and perhaps Cashout Express was somewhat under the radar while earning $133K on the season. "We had trouble with her behind the gate racing in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes," Ducharme said about Cashout Express, a daughter of International Moni. Cashout Express was good enough to reach the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final on September 5 at Harrah's Philadelphia, but that wouldn't be her best day as she broke stride at the start and lost all chance. "I was really happy with the way she finished the season. She was trotting in (1):55 or better at Plainridge every week," said Ducharme. The dual-eligible Cashout Express won a pair of Massachusetts Sire Stakes events, including a 1:54 1/5 personal-best on October 6 before finishing a close second in the $150,000 final at the end of the month. In that final she was defeated by Lindy In My Dreams, a daughter of Ready For Moni that also happens to be Cashout Express' maternal aunt, being a sister to her dam Lindy Of My Dreams. With the Pennsylvania Sire stakes early and the Massachusetts Stakes late in the season, there is plenty of available purse money for Cashout Express, giving Ducharme the ability to cash in if things work out. Ducharme has another dual-eligible that he has seen train back this winter with more purpose and vigor. False Dogma, a son of Captain Corey, showed talent as a freshman but didn't have all the pieces in place. Ducharme quit early with the colt, believing he had talent but wasn't ready for the big time. "He's a June foal and I kind of thought training him down that I didn't want to push him as a 2-year-old," Ducharme said. That decision meant just five starts as a freshman and still enough points to make it to the Sire Stakes consolation. False Dogma had finished second to one of the year's outstanding colts - Breeders Crown third-place finisher Mr Big Spender - in an early Pennsylvania Sire Stakes appearance but had trouble putting things together in his last few starts. With time to mature, Ducharme has high hopes for False Dogma. "He's eligible in Kentucky as well," said Ducharme of False Dogma, who, along with Ducharme's other sophomores, is likely to be ready to qualify when the stable ships north in April. Ducharme is happy with the way most of his 2-year-olds are working, with the group having considerably more time to prepare than the sophomores. "We've been in around 2:30 with all of them," said Ducharme of the stable that is top heavy in well-bred trotting talent. "We've got some nicely-bred horses. I've got five by Chapter Seven, five by Captain Corey and three by Walner." Ducharme has enjoyed much success over the years with the Massachusetts program and is training a pair of juvenile trotting fillies with solid bloodlines, and, more importantly, eligibility in his home state. Cant Buy Happiness was a $175,000 purchase at the 2025 Lexington Selected sale, and that's more than a fair price given the filly is out of a daughter of the great Moni Maker. Wanda Polisseni's Purple Haze Stable has entrusted Ducharme with some six-figure types by Chapter Seven that are doing everything right at this stage of their development. Ducharme is coming off what must be considered one of his best years in 2025, with the stable earning $1.6 million but improving on its already high win percentage with 54 wins from just 195 starts. Even more impressive was his $8,205 earnings per start figure. Clearly 2026 is shaping up quite nicely. Ducharme is optimistic about the near future as well. "It's going to be 80 down here later this week," said Ducharme, who hopes to be as hot as the weather when stakes season approaches.