Scioto: Zeron with a strong hand heading into Saturday Crown elims

Driver Scott Zeron brings a solid hand into Saturday's Breeders Crown elimination races at Scioto Downs. The three-time Hambletonian winning driver has been known for his steady hand behind trotters, and those hands will be tested with critical spots for the rich finals on October 24 in the balance.

Zeron's Saturday gets underway in race one with Hambletonian Oaks winner Nezuko Kamado S (post three) among six fillies and only the top three qualifying for the final. A daughter of Chapter Seven trained by Marcus Melander, Nezuko Kamado S captured the Oaks with Zeron on the sidelines but won her first start with Zeron back in the bike on August 30, a Kentucky Championship Series event. The filly has finished off the board in her last three starts, but Zeron remains confident.

"The trips didn't go her way," said Zeron, revealing that he didn't want to get to the front too early with the filly and thus was left in compromised positions. "She's got plenty of talent and she drew a good spot."

Nezuko Kamado S drew post three and will be looking for her seventh win in just her 11th trip to post in 2026. With $1.1 million banked and 12 wins over the last two seasons, Nezuko Kamado S is the class of the field, but there are other strong contenders.

Madam Cheval (post two) was most recently second in the Grade 1 Kentucky Filly Futurity at The Red Mile and has been a consistent filly for trainer Nancy Takter all year. Custom (post five) got roughed up in the Filly Futurity and could bounce back for trainer Petter Engblom.

Yonkers Trot, Beal Memorial and Kentucky Championship winner Inexpressable is one of two sophomore male trotters Zeron will pilot on Saturday. Inexpressable drew post four in the fourth race and first $25,000 Breeders Crown elimination, with the top four guaranteed a spot in the final, along with the fifth-place finisher with the higher 2026 earnings to round out the field of nine.

"He went a great race in the Kentucky Futurity," said Zeron of the third-place finish. "I wanted to sit behind Big Ranger, but we had to get down to the half in 54 for that to happen."

Inexpressable would vie for the lead again only to be out-kicked late in the mile that was trotted in 1:50 flat.

"Lucas (Wallin) has done a great job with having him ready early for the Yonkers Trot and having him sharp this time of year," said Zeron. "He gets around the turns extremely well, and that's a plus on the five-eighths track."

Inexpressable captured the Grade 2 Beal Memorial at Pocono in August on the front-end and was a dominant winner in the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series final, trotting to a personal-best 1:49 3/5 mile over The Red Mile surface.

Inexpressable will meet Hambletonian winner Apex (post three), Ontario Super Final winner Strobe Lite (post one) - a supplement to the Crown - as well as American Power (post six), a 1:50 performer this year with a victory in the Zweig Memorial at Vernon Downs.

Zeron will return for the second sophomore colt and gelding trot division (race seven) as the driver of Nix Nacken for trainer Marcus Melander. Nix Nacken captured the Grade 1 Kentucky Futurity on October 3 at The Red Mile for catch driver Bjorn Goop, but prior to that race Zeron had been his regular pilot, as he was on September 26 when Nix Nacken captured the Grade 1 Canadian Trotting Classic after a long overland grind.

"I think his best attribute is that he can race on the outside and take a lot of air and keep going," Zeron said of Nix Nacken, who landed post eight in the second division and will be putting his two-race win streak on the line with Big Ranger (post two) the main competition.

Nix Nacken doesn't always behave himself before the race, and that's a concern for Zeron, who believes the horse has more than enough speed to reach the final.

Big Ranger has won seven of his 11 starts this year, and as an Ohio-bred is more familiar with the Scioto Downs five-eighths oval than any other horse in the field. The son of In Range was just a nose behind Apex in the Hambletonian final and looks to bounce back to reach the final and a rematch.

In addition to Nix Nacken, trainer Marcus Melander has two others in this division with Zephyr Kemp (post one) and last year's Crown champion Spencer Hanover (post six) also looking to secure spots in the lucrative final.

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Zeron will guide Go Dog Go (post one) in the single $25,000 Crown elimination for Open trotters carded as race five, and he's hopeful that 4-year-old son of Greenshoe will mind his manners and finish in the top seven of the nine horse field to reach the final.

"He's definitely got the speed," said Zeron.

The field includes Emoticon Legacy (post two), a horse that Zeron drove to victory in the Charlie Hill Memorial over this surface on September 12 and he was most impressed by. "He went a huge trip that night and really gets around the turns well," said Zeron, who also guided the Luc Blais trainee to a second-place finish behind Super Chapter in the Dayton Derby. Super Chapter accepted a bye and will be in next week's final.

On the pacing side, Zeron has a solid entry in Sweet Lovin Lou (post four) in the eighth race and first of two $25,000 eliminations for sophomore colts and geldings.

"I think if you look at all of the eliminations this weekend, this race is clearly the toughest," said Zeron. "You've got Beau Jangles (last year's Crown winner) from the inside (post one) and Redland Rocket Man (post five) and Al Papi (post seven)."

Sweet Lovin Lou finished second behind Al Papi in the Grade 2 Tattersalls on October 10 at The Red Mile. "The track was pretty deep, and he was parked pretty much the entire trip," Zeron said describing the second-place finish.

Redland Rocket Man has been on a roll for trainer and co-owner John Pentland, following up his two-heat win in the Little Brown Jug with a wire-to-wire victory in the Ontario Gold Super Final this past Saturday (October 10) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The Bulldog Hanover-sired gelding was supplemented to the Breeders Crown for $72,000.

Beau Jangles finished second behind Redland Rocket Man in that Ontario final but finds the tables turned a bit on Saturday. Beau Jangles shined in his last start in the States, winning a division of the Bluegrass at The Red Mile in 1:47 2/5 on October 3, a career-best clocking.

PACING MARE RETURNS: Trainer Patrick Lachance will be in search of his first Breeders Crown victory with the $48,000 supplement Francent N, one of nine mares entered in the $25,000 Breeders Crown Open Mare elimination carded as race nine.

"She got sick," said Lachance, explaining why the Milton Stakes winner had missed time since that epic performance at Woodbine Mohawk Park on September 5.

"I qualified her back the other day and she went a solid trip," said Lachance of the 1:50 3/5 blowout at the Meadowlands on October 8. "I'm glad there are eliminations because I really wanted her to have a start."

Francent N drew post three and will face the resurgent Twin B Joe Fresh this Saturday and likely again in the final. Twin B Joe Fresh finished fourth behind Francent N in the Milton but had post 10 on that occasion. Since that mile the daughter of Roll With Joe has shown some of her old firepower with a big effort in capturing the $250,000 Grade 1 Dayton Distaff Derby on October 3 and then an off-the-pace score in the Grade 3 Allerage Farm final at The Red Mile on October 10. Twin B Joe Fresh drew post six with the top seven advancing to the final.

The Saturday Breeders Crown card starts at 6:00 P.M. (EDT) and features 13 consecutive eliminations, followed by an Open Pace in the finale.