Cranbury, NJ – The world’s fastest pacer,
Always B Miki, who recently reset the time standard in harness racing to 1:46,
leads a group of 39 eligible pacers for the $400,000 Breeders Crown Pace slated
for Friday, Oct. 28, at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Always B Miki,
the defending Breeders Crown Pace champion, is one of a record six Breeders
Crown champions among the eligible pacers: the 5-year-old son of Always A
Virgin is joined by Freaky Feet Pete (2015 sophomore pacing champ); Foiled
Again (2013 Open Pace); Luck Be Withyou (2013 freshman champ); McWicked (2014
sophomore champ); and Traceur Hanover (2014 2-year-old-colt pace champ). Both
Freaky Feet Pete and McWicked have called it quits this season.
Also eligible
is the sensational Shamballa, who was just 1-1/4 lengths back of Always B Miki
in that historic 1:46 mile, and also defeated both divisional leaders Always B
Miki and Wiggle It Jiggleit in a 1:47.1 score in the U.S. Pacing Championship
at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day, Aug. 6. Shamballa is driven by the
red-hot Scott Zeron, who is having a career year at age 27, having just won the
Triple Crown of Trotting with Marion Marauder. Zeron has more than $800,000 in
Crown earnings though he is still seeking his first title.
One of four Breeders Crown events slated for
the Meadowlands on Friday, Oct. 28, the Crown Pace will be featured in a
one-hour live broadcast on SNY (SportsNet New York) from 9-10 p.m. (EDT).
The battle for
division supremacy may very well come down to the Breeders Crown, as 2015 Horse
of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit is not eligible to the program which has
stallion eligibility as its cornerstone.
The $400,000 Breeders Crown Pace carries a
supplemental tag of $50,000, and supplements are due Monday, Oct. 17, at the
Meadowlands race office. The starting fee is included in the supplemental
amount, and at least 50 percent of the supplemental money, minus the normal
starting fee, is added to the purse of the individual events.
Horses eligible to the Breeders Crown events
must enter by 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18, also at the Meadowlands
race office.
Elimination events, if necessary, will be
raced on Friday, Oct. 21.
A complete
listing of all eligibles to the 12 events and more information on the
conditions of the race can be found at www.hambletonian.com.
