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Kennedy Road Stakes Betty Grable Stakes Breeders Cup Wrap Up Breeders Cup Saturday Breeders Cupnbsp;Friday |
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Kennedy Road Stakes Betty Grable Stakes Breeders Cup Wrap Up Breeders Cup Saturday Breeders Cupnbsp;Friday |
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 Driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Dave Menary pose with the Open Pace trophy. |
The 2025 Breeders Crown, North American harness racing's year-end championships, were decided at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville west of Toronto. The 4 races for juveniles were run on Friday night with the remaining 8 championship races run on Saturday. Conditions were typical for a late October evening in Southern Ontario with partly cloudy skies and temperatures holding around 6 C (43 F) and minimal wind. All Breeders Crown races are rated Grade 1 contested at the standard 1 mile distance, a 2-turn trip over Mohawk Park's 7/8 mile stonedust track rated fast. Unless specified as Canadian, all purses are given in U.S. dollars.
Here are the results for the 4 Championship races for the Open (males 4-year-old and up) and 3-Year-Old Colt and Gelding divisions.
Go to Part 2 for the Filly and Mare races
Results chart Race 9
Left: Ervin Hanover in the winner's circle. Winning trainer Dave Menary said, "We've been looking forward to it for a long time, and, you know, we kind of mapped out a schedule to get here, and everything sort of fell into place. We got pretty excited last year. He was good early on this year, but last year, he just ended the year on a good note, and he's done the same thing again this year." Winning owner Tom Pollack said, "We knew he was a nice horse. He showed signs of being able to go with the good ones, but he was kind of inconsistent, and we took a chance on him. He kind of had a rough start to his year at 4 and then caught fire at the end of the year up here in in November and December, a couple [1:]47 miles. And then I knew we had something special then. Dave's done an unbelievable job. It's been so much fun to race here and work with Dave. Mark Reynolds, who works with me, and Dave go way back, and we needed outlets to race all these horses we had, and Dave's just done an amazing job. I can't thank him enough."
Right: Ervin Hanover heads back to the barn after the race.
Left: The winning connections celebrate with the trophy.
Right: Ervin Hanover warms up before the race. Winning driver Dexter Dunn said, "Louis [Roy] has done such a great job with him all season, and had a tough choice with Nijinsky (finished 5th), and I was really lucky the connections gave me a call to jump on board. I was more than happy to. [An] unbelievable mile. He just doesn't seem to get tired. Dave had him ready to roll and as was going to track, he said he's better when it's colder, so it gave me more confidence with him."
The $600,000 Open Trot (G1) featured a field of 10 older horses with Maple Leaf Trot and International Trot winner Lexus Kody as the 9-10 favorite over 2-1 second choice Periculum, winner of the Allerage and Caesars Trotting Classic, and 6-1 third choice French Wine, third in the Allerage after finishing second in the Caesars. Driver Dexter Dunn sent 38-1 Up Your Deo to the lead first time by through fractions of 26 2/5, 54 3/5, and 1:22 1/5 while pressed by 50-1 Hillexotic and stalked by 51-1 Southwind Coors. Turning for home Up Your Deo continued to lead but French Wine, 5th early, rallied and outfinished late-running Periculum to win by a neck in 1:50 1/5. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back to favorite Lexus Kody third.
Results chart Race 7
Left: French Wine in the winner's circle. Winning trainer Nancy Takter said, "Jason's given this horse some really nice trips. Every time he's driven him, he's had him continuously passing horses, which I think is really important for his confidence. The first time he drove him he couldn't let him go for a quarter of a mile, and then in Lexington, he said he could only let him go the last eighth, and last week he said he was only able to let him go the last 16th, and I said, well, that's perfect, because by Breeders Crown night you'll be able to let him go, and he did tonight, and he was just super."
Right: French Wine gets a kiss from Michael Cot Gagnon, co-owner of One Legend Stable. Gagnon said, "This turned out like to be the perfect night and the horse is unbelievable, and was crowned the king of trot tonight. He deserves this crown."
Left: Winning driver Jason Bartlett and winning trainer Nancy Takter celebrate with the trophy.
Bartlett said, "He gets a little pacey in the last couple of spots. He's been really good ever since Nancy put me on him, and it's been a pleasure to drive him. He's a classy horse and tonight he showed up when it mattered. This is very memorable. I'm trying to take it all in and trying to enjoy it as much as possible, and am just grateful for the opportunities that I've gotten this year."
Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite Lexus Kody in the post parade. He improved his 2025 record to 10 wins, 3 seconds, and 4 thirds in 20 starts earning $1,603,232 (Canadian) for owner-trainer Ron Burke and co-owners Weaver Bruscemi and Phillip Collura.
Results chart Race 8
Left: Sippinonsearoc in the winner's circle. Winning driver Yannick Gingras said, "I was kind of happy where I got away, I just wasn't quite happy with the :25.3 first quarter. Other than that, I thought I was following two of the three best horses in the race between Dandy Ideal and Prince Hal Hanover, so I kind of liked my spot. He's been so good, really; he deserved a big win. He's been knocking at the door. I'm so happy for him. I'm just happy for the connections and happy to get to the winner's circle finally tonight."
Right: Sippinonsearoc heads back to the barn.
Left: Winning driver Yannick Gingras celebrates with the trophy. This was Gingras’ 27th lifetime Breeders Crown win, moving him into a fifth-place tie with Mike Lachance among drivers.
Right: Eighth place finisher and beaten favorite Louprint in the post parade. He has a 2025 record of 10 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 12 starts earning $1,401,393 (Canadian) for owner-trainer Ron Burke and co-owners Weaver Bruscemi, Phillip Collura, and Lawrence Kerr.
A full field of 10 went to post for the $600,000 Three-year-old Colt Trot (G1) with Canadian Trotting Classic and Kentucky Futurity winner Emoticon Legacy sent off as the 4-5 favorite over 3-1 second choice Maryland, second in the Canadian Trotting Classic, and 7-2 third choice Super Chapter, second in the Bluegrass Stakes after winning the Kentucky Sires Stakes. 18-1 Go Dog Go was quickest away through an opening quarter of 26 1/5 before Emoticon Legacy took over through a half in 55 1/5 and 3/4 in 1:22 1/5. Turning for home Emoticon Legacy tired as Super Chapter gained the lead midstretch, but 62-1 Meshuggah, 6th early, came through an opening along the pylons to win by 1/2 a length in a stakes record 1:50 1/5. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to Go Dog Go third, while Emoticon Legacy checked in 7th beaten 4 lengths.
Results chart Race 6
Left: Meshuggah in the winner's circle. Winning trainer Marcus Melander who trains the first two finishers said, "These last couple of starts, actually, both weeks in Lexington, he raced really well when we took the shoes off and he was actually coming in this race in very good form/ Of course, you know, he needed a trip, but Scotty gave him one. Like I said, considering the last two races in Lexington, I'm not that surprised, but a little surprised. Of course."
Right: Meshuggah returns after the race.
Left: Winning trainer Marcus Melander (left) and winning driver Scott Zeron celebrate with the trophy. Zeron said, "He usually has pretty tactical speed, but off the rail, he's made mistakes before, so we were just trying to get away where we got away, and hope things worked out, and they certainly did."
Right: Seventh place finisher and beaten favorite Emoticon Legacy in the post parade. The Luc Blais trainee has a 2025 record of 7 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 10 starts earning $1,305,355 (Canadian) for owner Determination.
On to Part 2 for the Filly and Mare races
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