Woodbine Mohawk Park: Gingras grabs all three Breeders Crown rookie trot elims

Yannick Gingras swept the C$32,500 Breeders Crown eliminations for 2-year-old trotters on Friday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park, guiding Ron Burke pupil Sister Sledge to a win in the first of two filly flights, then winning the single elimination for colts and geldings with trainer Per Engblom's Synergy. Gingras and Engblom then connected again in the other filly elimination with Ms Savannah Belle.

All eyes were on the undefeated Hypnotic AM (Brian Sears) in the first rookie filly trot elimination, and she took the lead from Sister Sledge passing the 27 2/5 opening quarter. Hypnotic AM continued in front to the 56 1/5 half and 1:24 4/5 three-quarters with Sister Sledge watching from the pocket, then Gingras edged out two-wide in the lane. Hypnotic AM led for much of the stretch drive, but she didn't have enough trot to hold off Sister Sledge in the closing strides as she was up to prevail by a length and a quarter in 1:53 1/5. Shishito (Dexter Dunn) was third, followed by Violet Stride (Tyler Buter) and Madame Sherry (Tim Tetrick).

"When I came out of the hole I thought I had a really good chance. When I got alongside of him I could tell I had more trot than he did. It was just a matter of getting to the wire," said Gingras. "I was definitely confident throughout, really. She's a nice filly. Hypnotic AM is nice, too, but I had all the confidence in the world with my filly. With the trip I thought she'd give her a really good run anyway."

A daughter of Father Patrick trained by Burke, Sister Sledge was a $35,000 yearling buy at the Standardbred Horse Sale for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Jason Melillo, J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. Bred by Sergent Stables LLC. and Andray Farm, she has banked $264,562 to go with her 8-1-1 record from ten tries. Sister Sledge's dam Behindclosedoors is a daughter of Andover Hall who earned $308,852 during her racing career to go with a mark of 1:53 2/5. Sister Sledge was the 5-1 second choice and returned $13.80 to win.

"Seven-for-seven (to start) and we decided to change her bridle. She got beat that start, and then like Yannick said, last start she really was good, and that gave us more confidence that she was the filly we thought she was," remarked Burke. "Moving forward I think she's as good a filly as is out there. There's a couple real good ones. The 2-year-old trotting fillies are very solid, a bunch of them actually."

The 2-year-old colt and gelding trot elimination was a break-filled event that saw 78-1 shot Beads (Paul MacDonell) make front and chop out fractions of 27 3/5, 57, and 1:25 4/5, rebuffing a first-over try from Back Of The Neck (Sears), who got back into contention after a break.

On the far turn Ake Svanstedt sent Third Shift wide from fourth, and he would rally into the lead in the lane, but Gingras found room two-wide in the lane with Synergy, who had sat a loose pocket trip most of the way, and Synergy would surge past for a half-length decision in 1:55. Third Shift wound up second, with Rome Pays Off (Tetrick) third. Chestnut Hill (David Miller) also recovered from an early miscue to finish fourth. Also moving on to the final to join the bye-taking Real Cool Sam, Port Perry, and Capricornus were Moon Bridge (Sylvain Filion), Beads, and favorite Amigo Volo (Dunn), who also went off-stride in the second quarter.

"His attitude is really good too, like he wants to beat horses, but he went through a little spell there in the middle of the summer he wasn't quite as good," stated Gingras. "Early on we really liked the colt. We thought he could go with the best ones. He seems to be coming back. Per made a shoeing change on him a couple weeks ago. I thought it made a world of difference, get more speed out of him. That was a good job there."

Engblom trains Synergy, a Father Patrick colt, for Brittany Farms LLC., John Fielding, Herb Liverman, and David Anderson. This was Synergy's fourth win from nine attempts, and he pushed his bankroll to C$16,2796. A $275,000 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale purchase, Synergy was bred by Southwind Farms LLC. and is the third foal out of the Muscles Yankee mare Southwind Sauna. Southwind Sauna, a full sister to Federal Flex (1:53 3/5, $735,534) has produced the likes of Southwind Tesla (Chapter Seven, 1:54, C$240,983). Synergy was sent off at 17-1 and paid $36.90 to win.

In the second filly trot elimination May Baby (James Yoder) cut out panels of 27 3/5, 56, and 1:24 4/5, but Gingras loomed in the pocket with Ms Savannah Belle throughout, and he brought her to the outside in the lane. Once Gingras turned her loose, Ms Savannah Belle was full of trot, and she drew off with authority in the stretch on her way to a 3 1/2 length win in 1:53 2/5. Wine Rack Hanover (Filion) was up for second, with Ramona Hill (Andrew McCarthy) third after an outside trip. May Baby wound up fourth and Dip Me Hanover (D. Miller) came in fifth.

"Tonight has been easy. We've got good horses, and we had some good spots tonight, so I was feeling confident going here," said Engblom. "I think my filly will do good. She hadn't raced in three weeks, and she'll be a little sharper next week."

Ms Savannah Belle is a Muscle Hill filly, is the first foal out of Stubborn Belle (Taurus Dream, 1:54 1/5, C$692,116) and is a homebred for Al Libfeld. She has won half of her eight chances, pushed her bankroll to C$216,658, and paid $3.00 to win as the 1-2 choice.

After the eliminations concluded, the fields were drawn for next week's finals. The elimination winners drew for posts one through five in their respective events.

2-Year-Old Filly Trot

1-Hypnotic AM
2-Sister Sledge
3-May Baby
4-Dip Me Hanover
5-Ms Savannah Belle
6-Wine Rack Hanover
7-Madame Sherry
8-Shishito
9-Violet Stride
10-Ramona Hill

2-Year-Old Colt & Gelding Trot

1-Beads
2-Synergy
3-Moon Bridge
4-Amigo Volo
5-Chestnut Hill
6-Rome Pays Off
7-Third Shift
8-Capricornus
9-Real Cool Sam
10-Port Perry