In 2019 trainer Nancy Takter was bringing back the freshman Breeders Crown champion Captain Crunch for his sophomore season. A year later Tall Dark Stranger would go on to become Horse of the Year for Takter during his brilliant 3-year-old campaign. As the clock turns to 2023, Takter and perhaps every leading trainer in the sport is looking for an edge in hopes to emerge from a 2022 season that produced the biggest upset in Breeders Crown history when the lightly-raced Ammo surprised at odds of 52-1. That Ammo would not come back to capture the Governor's Cup final a few weeks later was no surprise as it just continued the type of form we saw throughout the year. For Takter in February, there are four male pacers that are being pointed towards the major stakes, with the 2022 early-season star Save America leading the quartet. "He paced a couple of sub (1:)50 miles," said Takter of the early brilliance of the son of Captaintreacherous. "He was a big colt and had a bone bruise on his hind ankle that impacted the end of the year." Following a four-race stakes winning streak, Save America was upset as the 3-5 favorite in the Metro by Stockade Seelster and later on would miss the Breeders Crown final following a sixth-place finish in his elimination. "He's come back in and he looks great," Takter said of Save America, who is eligible to the major stakes, with the June North America Cup the obvious target. It's not uncommon for trainers to have brothers and sisters of horses they have trained in succeeding years, but in the case of Christchurch Takter has a son by one of the fastest horses her Hall of Fame father Jimmy ever trained in Always B Miki out of the $1 million-plus winning mare Darlinonthebeach that Nancy campaigned during her first three years of racing. "His sire and dam were both a bit immature as 2-year-olds," Takter said of Christchurch's famous parents. While stablemate Save America was showing up for the big dances in Ontario, Christchurch was getting experience racing in qualifiers and eventually limited stakes action at The Red Mile before tackling the best in the Breeders Crown. "He's an extremely large horse," said Takter. "He's got natural ability and plenty of speed but he's going to need time to put it all together." Learning how to be a racehorse is crucial and trainers can give young horses a pass as they are thrust into action and forced to go at high speed from the moment they set foot on the track. "I wish it wasn't like that," Takter said, "But there are few top drivers out there and they are going to test these horses, so you have to have them ready." 'Ready' for some meant pacing near 1:50 in their first or second starts, but for Christchurch that wasn't the direction Takter was going because she recognized through experience as well as the colt's pedigree what was in his best interest. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter "At some point in his career he's going to do special things," Takter said, clearly leaving out the time and place where Christchurch will hit his peak. Again, looking historically, Always B Miki became a much better horse with age, as did Christchurch's dam Darlinonthebeach. Still, it's hard not to recognize the value of a horse that is bred to be a champion and have the look of one on the racetrack, at least when the horse's parade to post. Christchurch gave a small indication of his talent at The Red Mile, winning a pair of overnight races in August without breaking any speed records. Christchurch made his first stakes appearance in a division of the Bluegrass on September 30 and faded to sixth after setting the early pace. A week later again in an overnight the colt was raced from off the pace in a field that included eventual Governor's Cup champion El Rey and driver Todd McCarthy had steering issues with Christchurch on the final turn, causing interference and confusion to surrounding horses. While others were losing their action, Christchurch was not and he paced right through the wire, only beaten a half-length while pacing his mile in 1:49 3/5. The effort was enough to give Takter some confidence that Christchurch could go against the best and he did in fact qualify for the Breeders Crown final but was never a factor, trailing the field in a rather slow first half mile. With but two wins and $17K banked during his freshman campaign, Takter believes there will be plenty of lower-level races that will help Christchurch get the experience he needs before the North America Cup. Ants Marching was a Downbytheseaside colt when he began his 2-year-old season with high expectations. His dam Passionate Beauty is a half-sister to the dam of Tall Dark Stranger. That said, Passionate Beauty earned but $13k during her racing career while Tall Dark Stranger's mom Precocious Beauty would bank $838K as a bona fide stakes performer. Nevertheless, Ants Marching appeared to inherit the speed from his maternal line but was unable to put it all together in a series of races. Once Ants Marching made breaks in three straight stakes races Takter knew something needed to change. "We decided to geld him after Lexington," Takter said. "Usually, it takes a while before you see a change in a horse but with him it happened pretty quickly." Indeed, Ants Marching drew post nine for the Kindergarten Series final at The Meadowlands on November 12 and trailed through much of the race, but Josert Fonseca angled him out in the stretch and the new gelding was airborne, pacing home in 25 4/5 for a fourth-place check. It was the kind of mile that helped raise expectations and pave the way for a sophomore season where Ants Marching could move into the top tier. The Sweet Lou-sired Cannibal captured the $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth final at The Red Mile in September, catching Governor's Cup runner-up Combustion in the stretch in a 1:50 2/5 clocking. "He just came back into the barn and he looks great," said Takter, who hopes that will translate into an improved sophomore season for Cannibal. "I think we'll look back at this time next year and see that a horse no one was talking about turned out to be the best in this division," said Takter of what appears to be a very wide-open sophomore male pacing division. "They go so hard as 2-year-olds." Speaking of 2-year-olds in training, Takter has more than half of her 55-head pointing towards their first year of racing, with six freshmen by Captain Crunch. "I've been in 2:25 with all of them," Takter said. "They are all good-gaited and remind me a lot of him." Of course, it is still February and that next 35 seconds will make all the difference.