Breeders Crown notebook: All in the family

Emoticon Hanover (Kadabra) was a success in the Breeders Crown during her harness racing career, and her impact on the event has continued as a mom.

As a racehorse, the Luc Blais-trained trotter appeared in five Breeders Crown finals, winning two and finishing second twice. Her first foal, filly Drawn Impression, won a Breeders Crown elim last year at age 2 and finished fourth in the final. Last week, Drawn Impression (Muscle Hill) captured her Breeders Crown elim again and will head to Saturday’s $600,000 final for 3-year-old female trotters at The Meadowlands as the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

But that’s not all. Emoticon Hanover’s second foal, colt Emoticon Legacy (Walner), also won a Breeders Crown elimination last week. He is the 7-2 third choice in Friday’s $700,000 final for 2-year-old male trotters at The Big M.

All Breeders Crown finals for 2-year-olds will be held Friday at The Meadowlands. The remaining eight finals will be Saturday at The Big M. First-race post time both nights is 6:20 p.m. (EDT). Fox Sports will air coverage Friday from 8-11 p.m. on FS1 and Saturday from 7:30-11 p.m. on FS2.

Drawn Impression and Emoticon Legacy have combined to hit the board in 16 of 21 races, winning 12 and earning $630,953. Both were bred by Determination, which also raced Emoticon Hanover, and are trained by Blais.

“That’s a good family,” Blais said. “It’s incredible when you think about that. It’s exciting. Very exciting. It is quite special. I like that. That’s my thing.”

Drawn Impression has won four of her past five races, with the loss coming by a head in the Elegantimage Stakes.

“She’s a nice filly,” Blais said. “She is very talented. She’s got a nice gait, a beautiful animal.”

Emoticon Legacy counts the Champlain Stakes among his wins this season. He was fourth in the William Wellwood Memorial and fifth in the Mohawk Million.

“I think he’s maturing and getting better and better,” Blais said. “When I trained him, he knows what to do. He’s got more confidence. I think time has helped him develop into a racehorse. He’s a very quick horse. He can change gears very fast.

“He was a little bit aggressive when he started to race. We took our time and now he knows what to do.”

Blais has won four Breeders Crown trophies in his career. Louis Roy, who will drive Drawn Impression and Emoticon Legacy, has won one.

When it comes to inheriting characteristics from mom or dad, trainer Marcus Melander sees similarities between Gimpanzee, a three-time Breeders Crown champion he trained, and the stallion’s offspring.

Melander will send out two fillies — Luna Lovegood and Kadena — in Friday’s $700,000 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old female trotters, both sired by Gimpanzee.

Luna Lovegood, the season’s co-fastest 2-year-old trotter, with a mark of 1:51.4, won her Breeders Crown elimination by 5-1/4 lengths in 1:52.2. She is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line behind 5-2 favorite Champagne Problems.

Kadena finished third in her Breeders Crown elimination, closing with a brisk :27.3 last quarter. Only one other filly came home as fast in the three Crown elims for the freshman female trotters, Lady Landia, who won the elimination in which Kadena competed.

“Her gait is very nice and she’s a smart horse,” Melander said about Kadena. “It’s the same with Luna Lovegood, the Gimpanzees are very smart horses, just like him. I see a lot of him in his babies, at least the ones that we have. From day one, they’ve been smart horses.”

Luna Lovegood, a daughter of broodmare Southwind Venus, has hit the board in five of seven races, winning four and earning $181,600.

“She’s been really good all year, and she was good again (in her elimination),” said Melander, who has won four Breeders Crowns in his career. “She’s a very professional horse. She’s strong, she can do a lot by herself. She’s easy to drive, easy to put in position. She made a break one time, she got interfered with in the first turn when she had the 11-hole at the Red Mile, but otherwise she’s been doing everything right.”

Kadena is a daughter of broodmare Mission Brief, who won a Breeders Crown in 2014. The family also includes Breeders Crown winners Southwind Serena and Tactical Landing as well as Go Dog Go, who races in Friday’s $700,000 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters.

For the season, Kadena has hit the board in six of seven starts, winning two and earning $73,000.

“She closed very well (in her elimination),” Melander said. “It’s a tough field of horses in the final, but she’s a real nice filly. She’s a big filly and I think she will be even better next year. But she’s having a good season. Hopefully she can get some luck, and you never know.”

In addition to those two filly starters Friday, Melander will send out four colts in the $700,000 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters: Maryland, Super Chapter, Meshuggah, and Blank. Maryland is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and advanced to the final automatically by winning the Peter Haughton Memorial in September at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Super Chapter and Meshuggah finished second in their respective elims.

For a past feature on Maryland, click here.

For trainer Nancy Takter, working with 2-year-old female trotter Champagne Problems (Tactical Landing) is family business.

Literally.

Takter and her children, Ella and Marcus, make up the Family Business ownership group that is among the owners of Champagne Problems, who is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Friday’s Breeders Crown for freshman filly trotters.

Takter gave the kids a share of the horse as a Christmas gift last year. Champagne Problems has hit the board in seven of eight races this season, winning five and earning $361,704.

“The kids are really lucky,” said Takter, adding with a laugh, “How does that even happen? I was picking between her and a colt, and I picked the right one fortunately. I wouldn’t have heard the end of that.

“It’s definitely been fun. I think for a lot of kids of trainers and drivers, they might have a little resentment toward the sport unless they’re super interested themselves. Parents end up missing out on a lot of their events. So, it’s fun for them to have the excitement of having a nice filly. It’s nice, too, when you’re a teenager and you have a filly that’s making nice money for you.”

Champagne Problems advanced automatically to the Breeders Crown final thanks to her win in the Jim Doherty Memorial in September at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Her other victories include the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship and a division of the International Stallion Stakes, which she captured by 3-1/4 lengths earlier this month at Lexington’s Red Mile.

“She’s been super,” Takter said. “She raced great in Lexington. I maybe wanted to race her both weeks down there, but she got rained out the first week. I was afraid she was going to be a little short in Lexington, but she trotted (1):53 super easy down there, and she was shut down halfway down the stretch.”

Champagne Problems is a daughter of Tactical Landing-Miss Caviar. She reminds Takter of another offspring of Tactical Landing, her 2023 Trotter of the Year Tactical Approach, who counted the Hambletonian and a Breeders Crown among his triumphs.

“I’ve said this from the first time I ever jogged her that she is a female version of Tactical Approach,” Takter said. “She carries herself exactly like he did.

“She qualified Saturday (in 1:55.4 at The Meadowlands) and was well within herself. I trained her (Tuesday) morning and she was super. All systems go with her. She’s a really nice filly. She’s been good to me.”

Takter has won 10 Breeders Crowns in her career, putting her in a tie for sixth among all trainers in history.

For Friday’s complete Meadowlands entries, click here. For free programs, visit the track’s website click here.

For complete race entries, click here: US Trotting entries.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA