It appears as if October at Woodbine is the perfect season
for Bettor Sweet. The seven-year-old gelding made it back-to-back Breeders
Crown Opens with an awesome 1:49 1/5 score in the $500,000 contest closing out
the dozen race Crown card.
Driver Dave Miller had a mission from the start and it had
to do with getting to the front. Despite leaving from post seven Bettor Sweet
jetted out and tucked behind known speedster Golden Receiver. The dust had
hardly settled after the :26 2/5 opening quarter before Miller elected to put
the usual stalker on the front end.
Bettor Sweet had the lead in the :55 opening half and seemed
more than well equipped to handle what would be next.
Yannick Gingras, looking for his fourth Crown winner of the
night had the incredible veteran Foiled Again primed for a second move after
finding a spot inside early. Foiled Again moved with purpose towards the winner
on the final turn and locked horns with him through a spirited :27 4/5 third
quarter.
The battle between those two warhorses didn’t pan out in the
homestretch as Bettor Sweet, owned by John Cancelliere and trained by his
brother Tom, sprinted away from the field with a slick :26 2/5 final quarter.
Early pacesetter Golden Receiver outdueled Foiled Again for
the place spot with Foreclosure N finishing fourth.
“Nobody challenged him until the stretch and by that time he
took off,” said winning driver Dave Miller.
For Bettor Sweet it was his third straight victory after
losing his first 14 starts of 2012.
Put On A Show, attempting to become the first pacing mare to
capture the Open, got away poorly from the rail and was unable to get into the
race at any point.
Bettor Sweet, sent off as the 7-5 favorite returned $4.90
for a $2 wager.
The owner confirmed after the race that this would be Bettor
Sweet’s last race of the season.
