Breeders Crown finals take Grand Circuit lead

Harness Racing This Week: Breeders Crown finals and Kindergarten Classic Series, The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, N.J.; Circle City, Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Anderson, Ind.; and John Simpson Stakes, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Schedule of events: Breeders Crown finals at The Meadowlands will take place on Friday (Oct. 25) and Saturday (Oct. 26). Friday will feature the $700,000 finals for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits. Saturday features the $600,000 3-year-old colt trot, $600,000 3-year-old filly trot, $600,000 3-year-old colt pace, $600,000 3-year-old filly pace, $600,000 Open Trot, $600,000 Open Pace, $496,000 Open Mare Trot and $400,000 Open Mare Pace.

Also on Friday, The Meadowlands will host a leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits with each of seven races going for $20,000. There will be a single division in the filly pace and two divisions each in the filly trot, colt trot and colt pace.

Hoosier Park on Friday will have the $55,000 Circle City for 3-year-old colt pacers, two divisions in the $50,000 Circle City for 3-year-old filly pacers, the $46,000 Circle City for 3-year-old filly trotters and the $45,000 Circle City for 3-year-old colt trotters.

On Saturday, Pocono will host the John Simpson Stakes for 2-year-old filly trotters and 3-year-old colt pacers. The card will feature four divisions in the $120,000 3-year-old colt pace and three divisions in the $117,010 2-year-old filly trot. Next Monday (Oct. 28), Pocono will host the John Simpson Stakes for 2-year-old filly pacers and 3-year-old colt trotters. The card will feature four divisions in the $120,000 3-year-old colt trot and two divisions in the $100,200 2-year-old filly pace.

Complete entries for the races are available at this link.

Last time:  Breeders Crown eliminations were held last weekend at The Meadowlands. In an upset, Grace Hill ended the nine-race winning streak of favored Twin B Joe Fresh to capture the single $25,000 elimination for the Breeders Crown Mare Pace.

Todd McCarthy executed the upset, putting the former Crown champion in perfect position behind the heavily favored Twin B Joe Fresh and then out-sprinting her rival in a spirited 1:48.4 clocking.

Grace Hill, bred by White Birch Farm, is owned by Tom Hill and trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. The daughter of Always B Miki from the Western Terror-sired dam Western Silk won for the sixth time this year and quickly elevated her status to major contender for this week’s final.

She paid $22.60 to win.

Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2024, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2024 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 10-19-24):

Drivers: 1. Dexter Dunn – 1,538; 2. Yannick Gingras – 941.5; 3. David Miller – 683; 4. Scott Zeron – 631; 5. Todd McCarthy – 586.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 1,056; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 777; 3. Nancy Takter – 559; 4. Marcus Melander – 515; 5. Noel Daley – 364.

Owners: 1. Burke Racing Stable – 250.7; 2. Determination – 227; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 200.7; 4. Ake Svanstedt Inc. – 155.4; 5. Caviart Farms – 143.6.

Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next weekend at Harrah’s Hoosier Park and The Meadowlands. Hoosier has four stakes for 3-year-olds in the Carl Erskine for open trotters, the Monument Circle for male pacers, the Crossroads of America for filly trotters, and the USS Indianapolis for filly pacers. The Meadowlands hosts the fifth leg of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-olds of both sexes and gaits.

by Paul Ramlow, for the Grand Circuit