Meadowlands: A magical time with Crown starter Miki And Minnie

When female pacer That’s The Ticket was retired seven years ago because of an injury, owner Craig Henderson thought he would sell the 2016 Three Diamonds Stakes winner. That was until he received input from the filly’s trainer, Chris Ryder.

“He told me not to sell her,” Henderson recalled. “He said she was going to have a great foal someday. He literally talked me into keeping That’s The Ticket. Her first two foals were fine; they both made over $100,000. But then along comes Miki And Minnie and it’s been phenomenal.”

Miki And Minnie, a daughter of Always B Miki-That’s The Ticket, has finished no worse than second in eight races this season, winning four and earning $318,750. Her victories include the Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series final and a division of the Bluegrass Stakes, both last month at Lexington’s Red Mile.

On Friday afternoon, she will compete in the first of two $25,000 eliminations of the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old female pacers at The Meadowlands. She will leave from post eight in a field of nine with Dexter Dunn driving for trainer Ryder. The top-five finishers from each elim will advance to the $700,000 final Oct. 25 at The Big M.

The Meadowlands will host all Breeders Crown eliminations for 2-year-olds Friday afternoon. First-race post time is 12:30 p.m. (EDT). Eliminations for horses ages 3 and up will be contested Saturday night beginning at 6:20 p.m.

“The fact that we drew post eight is concerning,” said Henderson, who shares the breeding credit and ownership of Miki And Minnie with Bob Mondillo and Larry Minowitz. “But this horse never races on the front end, so post eight, it’s not any good, but she only comes from off the pace. She’s got a big set of lungs and a big heart. She’s a beautiful filly and she just loves to race.”

Miki And Minnie began her career with four consecutive second-place finishes, two each in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Stallion Series and Kentucky Sire Stakes Commonwealth Series. On Aug. 19, the filly notched her first win, a 1:50 4/5 score in the third leg of the Commonwealth Series.

From there, Miki And Minnie moved to the top of the KYSS program, the Championship Series, and won that event’s fourth leg in 1:50 3/5 before capturing the $400,000 final by a nose over Looksgoodinloulou in 1:49 4/5. At the time it was the fastest mile of the season by a freshman filly pacer, later eclipsed by Looksgoodinloulou’s world-record-equaling 1:48 3/5 triumph in a division of the International Stallion Stakes earlier this month.

Miki And Minnie made it four wins in a row with a victory in a division of the Bluegrass on Sept. 26. She skipped the International Stallion Stakes to get an extra week off in preparation for the Breeders Crown. She prepped for the elims with a 1:54 3/5 qualifier at The Meadowlands on Oct. 10.

“Chris started out slowly with her to get her comfortable,” Henderson said. “Then we moved up. She improved every time we gave her the opportunity. I expect her to be every bit as good the next two weeks.”

Henderson won a Breeders Crown in 2010 with Dan Patch Award-winner Put On A Show, a female pacer he owned with Richard Young.

“My first horse was Put On A Show, but Richard did all the work on that,” Henderson said. “To now have a homebred that’s this good, for a guy with as little experience as I have in the business, is really, really a treat. (Miki And Minnie) is terrific. She really is terrific. She is a phenomenal filly.”

Henderson and his partners have a yearling colt out of That’s The Ticket named Ticketed, but sadly that would be her final foal. In April, the mare and her foal both died due to complications while foaling.

“I almost think this is God’s way of saying here’s one to keep it going,” Henderson said, referring to Miki And Minnie.

The 8-5 morning-line favorite in the first Breeders Crown elimination for 2-year-old filly pacers is Looksgoodinloulou, a daughter of Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper who will leave from post one with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke. Miki And Minnie is the 7-2 third choice.

“She’s in the tougher division of the two, I think,” Henderson said. “We’ll see what happens and hope for the best. But I’m very optimistic, and Chris is very optimistic, with this horse.”

The 6-5 favorite in the second elimination is Rose, another Gingras-Burke entrant. The daughter of Sweet Lou-Rosemary Rose will leave from post two in a field of eight. She has seven wins and a second in eight races this season.

Burke will also send out the 8-5 favorite, Louprint, in the first of Friday’s two elims for 2-year-old male pacers. The KYSS Championship Series winner will leave from post two in a field of eight with driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr.

Metro Pace winner Fallout is the 3-5 favorite in the second elim. He will start from post six in a field of eight for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Tony Alagna.