Atlanta hoping to finally wear a Breeders Crown

Hightstown, NJ — Name just about any major harness racing Grand Circuit trotting race, and it is likely Atlanta has won it. The Hambletonian? Check. Kentucky Filly Futurity? Check. Maple Leaf Trot? Check. Armbro Flight, Cutler Memorial, Steele Memorial, Hill Memorial, Dayton Derby, Joie De Vie, Allerage Open? Check ’em all.

One race missing from her list of accomplishments is the Breeders Crown. On Saturday afternoon, the multiple Dan Patch Award-winning female trotter will try to change that.

Atlanta is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $300,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot at The Meadowlands. She won last week’s single elimination by three-quarters of a length over When Dovescry in 1:52.1 and will start the final from post two with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke.

With a win, Atlanta would not only capture her elusive Crown, but she would also move within $4,000 of recently retired Manchego for fourth place on the career money list for female trotters with more than $3.14 million.

“She wasn’t a hundred percent healthy last week, so I think she’s going to be better this week,” Gingras said. “She will be a hundred percent health wise, so it will just be my job to get her the best trip. I think obviously she’s the horse to beat in there.

“If I can spot her second over it would be ideal. She is definitely better chasing, everyone knows that. But great horses do great things, and she can win any which way. She doesn’t need a trip, she just needs a target. She can be first up and that’s not a problem.”

Racing begins at noon Saturday at the Big M and features eight Breeders Crown finals for horses ages 3 and up.

Atlanta, a 6-year-old daughter of Chapter Seven out of Hemi Blue Chip, has won 31 of 61 career races. In Breeders Crown finals, she was fourth at age 2 and second at 3. The past two years, she faced the boys in the Open Trot, finishing third each time.

“It would be great to have a Breeders Crown trophy with her, that’s for sure,” said Gingras, who drives Atlanta for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Brad Grant, and Howard Taylor. “I think she is going to give a good account of herself.”

When Dovescry will start Saturday from post seven and is 4-1 on the morning line. David Miller will be in the sulky for trainer Brett Pelling. When Dovescry, owned by John Lengacher, has won six of 15 races this year and missed the board only once. For her career, the daughter of Muscle Hill-Cedar Dove has won 18 of 44 races and $1.49 million.

“She is absolutely one of the most perfect lovely horses you could ever have in your stable,” Pelling said about the 5-year-old mare, who won the Armbro Flight Stakes and Miss Versatility Series final this year. “She is a pleasure to be around. We love her, she loves us.”

Hypnotic AM, who received a bye into the final, is the 5-1 third choice in the final, starting from post eight with Brian Sears driving for trainer Marcus Melander. The 4-year-old is a daughter of Chapter Seven-Daydream AM S and has earned $1.44 million lifetime.

“She’s had a great year,” Melander said. “She’s made just under $300,000 and raced against the best 4-year-olds and the best mares. I can’t complain. She’s not a big horse. She went (1):50 flat in Lexington and she always tries her best. She’s showed she can be right there with them, but we need a little bit of luck.”

The field also includes two previous Breeders Crown champs, Next Level Stuff and Ramona Hill. Next Level Stuff, by Sebastian K S out of Nantab, will start from post 10 as she attempts to become the first female trotter to win a Crown at ages 3 and 4 since Bee A Magician in 2013-14.

Four-year-old Ramona Hill, who won her Crown at age 2 and captured the Hambletonian last year, starts from post five Saturday as she hopes to put health woes behind her.

“She has a lot of issues with her back, and everything has to be good at the same time,” trainer Tony Alagna said after watching the daughter of Muscle Hill–Lock Down Lindy finish a dead-heat fifth with Sorella in the elimination.

“I was thrilled with her. That was probably the best race she’s put in this year. Jammed-up trip, sitting fifth-over, no flow, and when (driver Andy McCarthy) tipped her, she looked like her old self. I think with a start like that under her belt and a good draw, she will be that much better going to the final. Fingers crossed.”

Felicityshagwell S, who was beaten by 1-1/4 lengths in finishing fourth in the elimination, is 15-1 on the morning line from post six, but trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt is happy with the 6-year-old daughter of Maharajah-Diaz Boko.

“If I had racing room (in the elimination) I think I win easy,” Svanstedt said. “She is in top form.”

The Breeders Crown Mare Trot is race five Saturday, the second of the eight Breeders Crown finals. Free full-card TrackMaster past performances are available for Friday and Saturday by visiting the Meadowlands website here.

COMEBACK KIDS LOOK FOR CROWN

It was a slow road back to the races for male trotter Warrawee Roo, but the Luc Blais trainee is quickly making up for lost time. Warrawee Roo suffered a fractured foot at the end of 2018 and did not race in 2019 or 2020. This year, the 8-year-old stallion has won five of 16 races and is the 9-2 morning-line third choice in Saturday’s $650,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot.

Eliminations were unnecessary for the Open Trot, with a field of 11 going directly to the final. Warrawee Roo, a son of Majestic Son-Karoon, prepped for the event by winning last week at The Meadowlands in 1:51.2, a career-best time. He will start Saturday from post one with Dan Dube driving for trainer Blais.

Warrawee Roo has appeared in one previous Breeders Crown, finishing third in the 2018 Open Trot. He has won 15 of 66 lifetime starts.

“He’s an amazing horse,” said Blais, a four-time Breeders Crown winner. “It took long, but he has such a great attitude, I didn’t give up, and he showed up. He likes to race. That’s the kind of horse you want. He’s a very nice horse.

“One thing I know, when he’s on the track and he’s feeling good, he’s a competitor. That’s for sure. He’s going to try hard.”

Another comeback kid for Blais is Forbidden Trade, the 2019 Hambletonian winner and Canadian Horse of the Year. A leg injury limited Forbidden Trade to five starts in 2020, but he has won four of 12 this season including the Caesars Trotting Classic and Crawford Farms Open. He is the 7-2 second choice in Saturday’s final, starting from post two with Bob McClure in the sulky.

Forbidden Trade, by Kadabra out of Pure Ivory, qualified last week in 1:53 to get ready for the Breeders Crown. He has won 20 of 42 career races.

“I’m very pleased with him,” Blais said. “He’s always there and races good, feeling good. He came back very strong this year. We’re very pleased about that. When we started, we didn’t know how far we were going to go, but he stepped up and he stayed sound. That’s the main thing. I think he will always be a nice horse.”

Two other horses coming back from health woes are two-time Breeders Crown champion Amigo Volo and Chin Chin Hall, both for trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman. Amigo Volo will start Saturday from post nine, with Dexter Dunn driving, as he tries to join Gimpanzee and Mack Lobell as male trotters to win the Breeders Crown three times. Gimpanzee and Mack Lobell were champs at 2, 3, and 4.

Amigo Volo went off stride at the start of his prep race last week, but had two wins, a second, and a third since a more than two-month midseason hiatus.

“The horse was a little bit eager and hit the gate and made a break,” Norman said about last week. “We gave him quite a bit of time off because his health wasn’t good, but now he seems like he’s right back on point. I think he will go good. He drew nine in the final. He’s going to have to smoke it out of there.”

Chin Chin Hall was limited to five races last year because of injury. He finished second to Warrawee Roo last week. He has hit the board in six straight starts, winning three. Todd McCarthy will drive Chin Chin Hall, starting from the post 11 trailing spot behind the gate.

“He was a good second,” Norman said. “He’s come on. I’m not sure if he’s gotten better or if the pack has come back to him a little bit. But he’s racing good and solid. Really good.”

Ecurie D is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the Open Trot off his one start in North America, a 1:50.4 win in the Allerage Open earlier this month. Born in Denmark, Ecurie D was a sensation in Europe his first two seasons of racing. He won his first 11 races in a row, including all seven starts at age 3.

In May, Ecurie D finished sixth in the Elitlopp. His 1:50.4 debut win in the U.S. puts him in a tie for the eighth-fastest mile of the season by an older trotter in North America.

Overall, Ecurie D has won 16 of 22 races and $458,368. He was supplemented to the Breeders Crown for $62,500 and starts from post three with trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt.

“We started up easy with him and then training more and more and he is doing good the whole time,” Svanstedt said. “He is a good horse. He has good conformation, he is a smart horse, and he is good gaited. He is fast, he is strong, nice to drive. He is everything.”

The Breeders Crown Open Trot is race 10 on Saturday, the seventh of the eight Breeders Crown finals. Free full-card TrackMaster past performances are available for Friday and Saturday by visiting the Meadowlands website here.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA