Breeders seek perfection but often come up short. To reach the Breeders Crown it sometimes pays to breed horses that are previous winners of the sport's year-end division defining race. For trainer Brett Pelling, 2025 marks the second straight year he will have a horse in the preliminaries with a pedigree that more than hints at greatness. For Pelling, Disney lit up the board in capturing a Breeders Crown elimination at the Meadowlands last year against the sport's premier sophomore pacing fillies. The daughter of two-time Crown champion and world record-setter Always B Miki on the sire side and double Crown winner Pure Country on the dam's side, rallied from last to first at sky-high odds of 66-1. Making just her 11th career start, Disney showcased her talent against the best. This year, Fusion has followed a similar path for Pelling, starting out in the Kentucky Sire Stakes program and working his way up to Grand Circuit competition at The Red Mile. Fusion, unlike his older full sister, did race and show some talent at age 2 but never rose past second-tier status in his division. This year, Pelling saw Fusion win at the Golden Rod level on a pair of occasions before stepping up for a win and then second-place finish in the Commonwealth final. A move up to the Bluegrass during the first week of Grand Circuit action at The Red Mile appeared a stretch but not after the colt swooped the field in the stretch and took a career-best 1:48 4/5 mile. "He's fine chasing speed but he has to get the right kind of trip," said Pelling of Fusion, who drew post four in the first of two Crown eliminations for sophomore pacing colts and geldings. In his Bluegrass triumph, Fusion was relaxed as others dueled through hot fractions that paved the way for his late kick to pay off. The move was enough to give the trainer confidence to put him in the Tattersalls, a race with more players at the highest level of the division. The decision forced driver Todd McCarthy to stay loyal to Prince Hal Hanover, and that left Dexter Dunn to pick up the assignment. In the Tattersalls, Dunn utilized his rail position to get away third through a blistering 26-second opening fraction. Fusion had no difficulty keeping pace in a race that saw Prince Hal Hanover on the front and rival Madden Oaks pressing him hard through fractions of 52 4/5 and 1:19 4/5. While those two matched strides, Fusion was in a world of trouble. Early speedster Papis Pistol was struggling to keep contact with the leaders, and that kept Fusion and Dunn boxed in. "Dexter was in all kinds of trouble," said Pelling. "Papis Pistol is a very fast horse on the straights, but he's a bit compromised on the turn and he was slowing down." So, while others had a clear shot on the outside to gain position, Fusion was pinned between horses and on two occasions lost his gait momentarily before recovering. "He had plenty of pace but nowhere to go," said Pelling. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Finally, a hole would emerge, and Fusion kicked into gear but would not be able to overcome the momentum longshot Handsome Stranger had on the far outside and would miss by a neck timed in 1:48 1/5, the fastest of his career. "Dexter said if he had found room he could have won by five," said Pelling. That was the type of confidence-booster that pushed Fusion (post four) into Saturday's field where many of the same players he faced in Kentucky will meet him again. Madden Oaks (post two) returns to the Woodbine Mohawk Park surface where he lost a photo to division leader Louprint in the North America Cup in June. The difference this time around for the Cam Capone-trained son of Huntsville is that local star driver Louis-Philippe Roy picks up the assignment. Madden Oaks was beaten just a length after a brutal journey in the Tattersalls. Prince Hal Hanover (post six) finished third in that Tattersalls mile but he too failed to give up ground in the stretch despite the hectic pace under duress through a wicked middle-half. The Dr. Ian Moore-trained colt has been a consistent force all season long. Adding more speed to this contest will be Kentucky Sire Stakes champion Sippinonsearoc for trainer Ron Burke, a 1:48 2/5 winner at The Red Mile this season with six wins in 13 seasonal starts. Sippinonsearoc drew post eight. Asking Pelling to compare the sister-brother tandem of Disney and Fusion, he felt that last year's Crown elimination upsetter probably had more will and grit than Fusion but suggested the colt has come on strongly towards year's end and can go with most anyone in this class under the right trip conditions. Faze's resume before Grand Circuit action at The Red Mile gave more indication that she might have been better suited for Kentucky action at Cumberland Run this week as opposed to a trip north for the Breeders Crown. The daughter of Sweet Lou, when put in against the top fillies in North America, defied the odds on consecutive weeks. Tim Tetrick gave her a winning drive in the Bluegrass on September 27, leaving aggressively from an outside post and working out a pocket trip that she converted at 15-1 to earn a 1:49 career-best clocking. A week later on October 5, Faze faced an oversized field once again with an outside post, and though she didn't win the race, her performance was outstanding. "That's a hell of a trip over that track," said Pelling. "You don't see horses live on the outside through those kinds of fractions and still hold up to the wire." Indeed, Faze did much of her racing on the rim through a middle-half clocked in 53 flat, eventually ending up without cover for the long straightaway. Faze still paced home in 27 1/5, missing a length and a half to Unreasonable, a filly she will meet again on Saturday night. With The Last Martini and Rodeo Drive Deo taking byes into next week's final, eight of the 10 fillies entered in Saturday's ninth race will reach the final. Faze must overcome another tough draw (post seven), as well as division leaders Miki And Minnie (post two) and Chantilly (post nine). This will be just the second meeting for last year's Breeders Crown champion Miki And Minnie and last year's Canadian Horse of the Year Chantilly. The two met in the Lynch Memorial, with Miki And Minnie out-kicking Chantilly in a thriller. While Pelling doesn't have the same firepower that saw him capture the 3-year-old Crown filly pace with Test Of Faith in 2021, or the 3-year-old Crown colt and gelding pace in 2023 with Horse of the Year Confederate, he has a pair coming into this year's edition in peak form just seeking a chance to reach the lucrative final. Then again, it's not easy to have champions every two years.