Battle Beckons Big-Boy Pacers; Green Gals Trot For Big Bucks

This week, the Breeders Crown Countdown addresses the older male pacing division and the freshman filly trotters.

Older pacers face another huge purse while competing against most of the same foes they’ve faced through the season when Mohawk presents the $616,000 Canadian Pacing Derby on Saturday, Sept. 3. The usual suspects, so to speak, are here, while a few locals join the 10-horse field.

Getting the inside post is Wiggle It Jiggleit. Once again he draws best of the two major parties of this division, as Always B Miki gets post 8. These two should attract the bulk of the win pool, with “Wiggle” probably the out-and-out public choice.

Loyal Canadians will dig into their pockets to back hometown heroes, including Shamballa, who upset a bunch in this division on Hambo day. He is in a good spot with post 4. State Treasurer has been having a tough season but returns for the third time to this event. He recently won two races after a string of losses that preceded an injury. He leaves from post 3

Evenin Of Pleasure, who upset the Molson Pace field this season, leaves from post 10; top-class Ontario-circuit duo Nickle Bag and Nirvana Seelster leave from posts 2 and 6, respectively.

The other continuing top-tier members of the division in the field include Rockin In Heaven (5), All Bets Off (7) and Dealt A Winner (9).

There is little doubt that speed will be the issue for the half, if not all the way to three-quarters, with Wiggle attempting a wire-to-wire coup but will his main challenger be “Miki”? Stepping it out with Wiggle may not be the best strategy for Miki here. Wiggle may be stalled in the stretch after battling Nickle Bag or All Bets Off or “Heaven.”

Shamballa has all to gain from a strenuous Wiggle half but Miki is genuinely better and should be the best of the closing crew—unless he soars early and burns with Wiggle. But if we accept Miki will make a late charge he could put in a monster mile off of the fast early fractions. Also, if the odds are spread out enough and due to Miki’s recent losses, perhaps he will go off the third or even fourth choice—either should be remarkably generous prices.

Thursday, Sept. 1, Mohawk hosts a pair of Champlain stakes for the two-year-old filly trotter division. Each split is worth $110,566.

In round one, 10 green gals get going. The leading sire in this division, Muscle Hill, is represented by Glitzey Gal and Myammie Drama, while the second-place sire, Cantab Hall, has only one rep, Princess Aurora, who goes from the Jimmy Takter barn. The win money will most likely go to Takter’s filly and to Ron Burke’s Sianna Hanover. This could leave the two Muscle Hill femmes with weak odds that could make them the best bets here. Glitzey Gal leaves from post 4 and gets an edge over Myammi Drama, who leaves from post 9 but both could be worth the backing.

Ten more address the second Champlain but only six sires represent them. There are a trio of Muscle Hills and a trio of Kadabras. Only one Cantab Hall sets sail and he comes from the Takter stable and leaves from post 9. Takter is a big Cantab Hall fan and has succeeded with many of the sires’ progeny. From post 9, Thats All Moni may be disregarded even with the Takter tag, especially since his other entry, Ariana G (Muscle Hill) is already successful at two and a division leader. We suggest going with Thats All Moni for the price.

Follow major Breeders Crown hopefuls on their road to the championship series at the Meadowlands at the Breeders Crown Countdown blog and the TwinSpires harness blog weekly, with archived reports on the results at the Hambletonian Society web site.