While all eyes are on Woodbine Mohawk Park for this year’s Breeders Crown finals, preparations are already underway for the 2026 event, to be held at Scioto Downs. The eliminations are set for Friday and Saturday October 16 & 17, with the finals scheduled for the following weekend. The Buckeye State has a rich history of hosting the season-ending championships, but this will be the first time in 30 years that the races have returned to Ohio and nearly 40 years since they have been held at the track located just south of Columbus. It is also the first time since the races were consolidated in one location that an Ohio track will host. Back in 1986 and 1987, the great Grades Singing went back to back in the Mare Open Trot at Scioto and Northfield, respectively. In 1988, Call For Rain took the Open Pace at Scioto, and in 1989 Armbro Feather won the 3-year-old filly pace at Northfield. A few years later in 1992 we saw a night of contrasts as favored So Fresh took the sophomore filly pace and 43-1 longshot Kingsbridge won the colt pace. Another upset occurred at Northfield in 1995 when That’ll Be Me upset Pacific Rocket (among others) at 10-1. Both longshots were driven by Roger Mayotte. That same year Panifesto took the Open Trot at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in the Buckeye state. Caesar’s Entertainment (Eldorado Resorts) has spent millions of dollars in renovations to “Ohio’s Showplace of Harness Racing.” A $27 million dollar grandstand opened for the 2023 meet and the new 16-race, $16 million dollar paddock opened prior to the 2025 season, making the track an ideal candidate to the mind of Hambletonian Society CEO John Campbell. The Society administers the Breeders Crown races. “With the state of racing in Ohio, we were looking to come here. I was actually at Dayton to watch Bulldog Hanover (2022 Dayton Derby) and spoke with Chris McErlean about hosting there and he said he didn’t think they could pull it off, but Scioto was getting the new paddock and would be a perfect candidate,” Campbell explained. The paddock is ideal as it can also serve as the required detention facility for the races. I asked Campbell if they were looking specifically to come to a five-eighths-mile track, to come to Ohio or to come to Scioto and he responded “All of the above.” “We are looking to expand our footprint and with the growth of the Ohio program it just can’t be ignored. And not just purses, breeding too. Ohio’s stallions can compete with anything in the sport,” said Campbell. Ohio Harness Horseman’s President Scott Mogan added: “Joe Morris and Jason Roth (from Caesars) were all in but had to get approval from Anthony Corano, whose family has owned Eldorado Resorts for many years. Once he said go, it was full steam ahead and we were brought in to help secure the rights, which cost $900,000. We hope to offset a great deal of that with sponsorships and with the involvement of the Columbus Sports Commission. This is going to be a big deal for the city.” But what about that very nice but small grandstand? Campbell foresaw something like the large tent that Hoosier Park put up when they hosted the event, and Mogan confirmed it. “We will put in a 400-seat tent with temporary flooring and heat if we need it,” said Mogan. The track also has a clubhouse and outdoor patio seating area, but temperatures can be a bit chilly in Columbus in late October, so the tent is a necessity. Both of the track’s meeting rooms will also be put in use. The Three Diamonds room will be the hub for the OHHA and the Hill room will host special guests. The two rooms can accommodate another 250 people, so there will be seating for 1,500 and a large apron area that can handle many more. The Scioto race dates are interesting for a number of reasons. The track’s meet typically ends in early September, flowing into the Little Brown Jug in Delaware for a week and then two weeks of Grand Circuit action at The Red Mile in Lexington. Most years there is a week off from major stakes and the Breeders Crown eliminations and finals. The first thing Scioto Downs had to do was get permission from Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway to grab two October weekends when the Southwest Ohio track would normally race. Once that was accomplished, things got interesting. “The Little Brown Jug is always held on the third Thursday after the first Monday of September,” Mogan explained. “This year that Monday is September 7, the latest it could possibly be. The Jug will be the 24th and Lexington races the next two weeks. The issue for horsemen is that the last weekend at Lexington is a Friday-Saturday-Sunday (Kentucky Futurity Day), which means some horses would come into the eliminations with just six days rest. We asked Lexington to move back one day to a Thursday-Friday-Saturday, but they declined. We still hope they can be persuaded to make the change.” It’s still a year out, so not all of the food details have been finalized, but all formal dining areas will feature buffets catered by some of the top providers in Columbus, including Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse and others. Concession stands – both the permanent one at the top of the grandstand and temporary stands at ground level – will be available. There is a Hampton Inn on the property, but good luck getting a room there. There are a number of economy and mid-range hotels in Grove City, particularly along Stringtown Road, which is less than 15 minutes from the track. Most of the higher end hotels are either downtown or near The Ohio State University campus. And what to do Saturday during the day (other than handicapping the card)? There’s the zoo and there’s COSI, the Center of Science and Industry (an amazing museum if you have the kids with you). Columbus also has a great network of MetroParks. Hungry before the races? I am lunching one day at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in the German Village. It is world-renowned. I will also be having lunch at either Joya’s or Agni, both operated by acclaimed chef Avishar Baruja, who has won the show Beat Bobby Flay and competed on Top Chef and Flay’s Triple Threat. China Bell on Stringtown Road has outstanding Chinese food.  One of the last Ponderosa Steak Houses still standing in the region is a couple miles north of the track on Route 23. Of course, if you have ever had a slider, the original slider was developed in 1921 at White Castle, which is now a chain of fast food joints in the area. Try one. That’s it for this time. Now go cash on the amazing Breeders Crown cards at Woodbine Mohawk Park this weekend.