Scioto: Crown starter Mr Bear has been a blessing for Adams

After enduring a difficult year in 2025, breeder Mark Adams has found a level of comfort in watching the exploits of 2-year-old male pacer Mr Bear in 2026.

Mr Bear, a son of Rockin Image-Mama’s Lil Beach who will head to Friday’s (Oct. 16) eliminations for the Grade 1 Breeders Crown at Eldorado Scioto Downs with eight wins in 10 starts this season, was bred by Adams and Timothy Sullivan (better known by his middle name, Sean) and born in April 2024 at Winterwood Farm in Bellville, Ohio.

Fourteen months later, Sullivan – who purchased Winterwood from Adams and his father, Albert, in 2013 – passed away, at the age of 63, from complications due to a sudden and complex neurological illness. Adams’ dad passed away, at 89, three months after Sullivan. Then, just months after that, Mr Bear’s mother was lost due to complications from colic.

“It was a really, really tough year,” said Adams, the farm manager at Winterwood. “It was a rough go, like this is enough. But to have this horse come on like he did, it’s kind of like divine intervention because, for me, those guys were looking down and giving it the assist. It’s really nice to have a positive like that because it gets you up in the morning if you’re thinking about other things. It makes you recognize the positives and look forward to getting to work.

“It’s kind of a tough-luck story, but I’m so happy for (co-owner/trainer Erv Miller) and all his people. It just shows that we can raise a good horse, and that makes me feel good. All we can do is carry on.”

Mr Bear, originally named Sticktotheshadows, was a $50,000 purchase at this past fall’s Midwest Standardbred Select Yearling Sale. Miller signed the ticket and shares ownership (as Ervin Miller Stable) with D&M Trading II, Levi Bontrager, and Laura Perniciaro.

Driven throughout the season by Marcus Miller, Mr Bear opened his career with six consecutive wins, four in Indiana Sires Stakes competition and all by at least 1-3/4 lengths, before a second-place finish to Tell Me It’s You in the fifth leg of the series on Sept. 11. He came back with back-to-back triumphs, including in the Grade 3 Elevation, before a second-place finish, again to Tell Me It’s You, in the Indiana Sire Stakes championship for freshman male pacers last week.

All of his races were at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. He has a best win time of 1:50 3/5, which he accomplished three times, and earnings of $291,625.

“He was just a great individual,” Adams said about the young Mr Bear. “Early on, he always acted kind of strong around the other colts, but you get those kinds and you just never know what you’ve got. But what a nice colt he’s become.

“I think he has his mom’s toughness. That mare wasn’t the easiest to be around. I knew when we were breeding her, it was going to be a little bit tough when her foals got to be yearlings. We let them be horses. We’ll break them and lead them beside the mare, but once you turn them out, they forget all that and they become who they are. He was just a tough colt. I had Enos Weaver help me and he had a big hand in helping that colt. It wasn’t just me; it was a group effort. I was lucky to have those people helping me.”

Mr Bear will compete Friday in the first of two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations for 2-year-old male pacers at Scioto Downs. He is the co-second choice on the morning-line, at 7-2, in a field of eight and will leave from post 7 with Marcus Miller in the sulky.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Miller said about Mr Bear’s campaign. “He’s only been beaten twice, and it was a really good horse that beat him both times. He’s just such a nice horse. He’s the picture of the horse you want to drive, that’s for sure. The first time I went with him, I pegged him right away as the colt that I would like to drive this summer. I just loved him from the first time I sat behind him. You could tell that he was strong and smart; all the things you wanted.

“He’s a really intelligent horse, and it makes him easy to drive. He knows his job, and he likes it. When we start to angle around the last turn, he picks up all on his own; I don’t have to tell him when to go, or anything. He can also absolutely sprint like crazy.”

Eastie Boy, who captured the Grade 1 Metro Pace in his most recent start, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the elimination. The son of Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer will leave from post 2 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. driving for trainer Ron Burke. Blazin Lou, a two-time Grade 3 stakes winner during the Grand Circuit meet at Lexington’s Red Mile, is the 7-2 co-second choice with Mr Bear. The son of Sweet Lou-Beautiful Lady is the fastest starter in the field (1:49 1/5) and will start from post 8 with Dexter Dunn driving for Tony Dinges.

“It’s a different group for (Mr Bear) to race against, but I think he’s up to it,” Miller said. “I’m excited to see what he does.”

In the second elim, Night Surfer is the 5-2 morning-line favorite, starting from post 3 with Dexter Dunn at the lines for Virgil Morgan Jr. The son of Downbytheseaside-Dark Force has five wins and a third in six races, with the setback coming in the Ohio Sires Stakes championship on Sept. 12 at Scioto. He bounced back to win an Ohio Breeders Championship 11 days later at the Delaware County Fair.

The second elim also includes Pennsylvania Sire Stakes runner-up Starstruck Dreamer, whose only loss this year in six starts came by a head to undefeated Shalom Hanover in the PASS final. A son of Captaintreacherous-Scarlett Hanover, Starstruck Dreamer is the fastest 2-year-old ever on a five-eighths-mile track (1:48 4/5) and will leave from post 4 with Todd McCarthy driving for Noel Daley. He is 3-1 on the morning line.

Shalom Hanover, a son of Papi Rob Hanover-Sammy’s Magic Girl who is 7-for-7 this season, goes from post 2 with Louis-Philippe Roy in the bike for Ian Moore. He is 4-1 as he makes his first start since being scratched from the Metro Pace final on Sept. 26.

The top four finishers from each elim plus the fifth-place finisher with the highest seasonal earnings will advance to next week’s final.

Scioto Downs, which is hosting all 12 Breeders Crown events for the first time after being the site of single Breeders Crown finals in 1986 and 1988, is holding eliminations for 2-year-olds on Friday, with the four $700,000 freshman finals all on Oct. 23. Eliminations for the 3-year-olds and Open events are Saturday (Oct. 17) with those finals on Oct. 24.

“It’s fantastic,” Adams said about the Breeders Crown return to the Buckeye State. “I can’t wait; I’m just super excited. (Scioto Downs Director of Racing) Jason Roth and everybody is doing such a great job. When you’ve got people excited and giving it their all, it can only be one thing – and that will be a great thing.”

Racing on each of the four nights of Breeders Crown action will begin at 6 p.m. (EDT). For free program pages, visit the Eldorado Scioto Downs website.