Get ready for this weekend’s event at Harrah’s Hoosier Park by immersingyourself in some weird, wacky and wonderful moments in Crown history.

by Bob Heyden

For all of those watching / following / wagering on the Breeders Crown this weekend, please read this.

DRIVERS

• Forty-five drivers have won at least $1 million in the Breeders Crown.

• Twenty-one drivers were born in Canada, 17 in the U.S., four in Sweden, two in Australia and one in New Zealand.

• Twenty-nine drivers are past $2 million.

• Nine drivers are past $5 million.

• Ten drivers have double-digit wins.

TRAINERS

• Fifty-two trainers have won at least $1 million.

• Six trainers have won double-digit Crowns. Joe Holloway joined the group last year with Ammo (52-1).

• Twelve of the 52 were born in Canada.

• Fifty-one trainers are past $1 million in Breeders Crown earnings.

• Ron Burke has had double digit starters each of the past 12 years. Only 23 times in Crown history has a trainer had 10 or more.

• Brett Pelling is about $43,000 from becoming the fourth all-time leading trainer in Crown earnings. Chuck Sylvester is currently in fourth with $5,191,199.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Horses that paid over $100 in the Breeders Crown.

$409.80 — Sandbetweenmytoes (2020) with driver Scott Zeron for trainer Jim Campbell.

$152.00 — Kadealia (2007) with driver Tim Tetrick for trainer George Teague, Jr.

$140.60 — Bays Fella (1990) with driver Paul MacDonell for trainer Mike DeMenno.

$132.00 — Twelve Speed (1991) with driver Ron Waples for trainer Mark Loewe.

$108.20 — Shore By Five (1999) with driver Dan Dube for trainer Bob McIntosh.

$106.00 — Percy Blue Chip (2018) with driver Matt Kakaley for trainer Ron Burke.

$102.80 — Southwind Serena (2007) with driver Yannick Gingras for trainer Per Henriksen.

DEXTER DUNN’S SCORECARD

• Twelve wins in 43 Crown tries in only four years of action; 43 12-7-5 $4,764,015.

• No. 10 all time in earnings and he jumped from 16 to 10 just last year.

• Eight of his 12 wins were favored.

• Won back-to-back Crowns with Amigo Volo at 2 and 3 (2019-20).

• Eight of his 12 wins were with trotters.

• The highest win price he has paid was $8.20 with Fire Start Hanover at Hoosier in 2020.

• He won four in his lone Hoosier Park Crown visit in 2020.

• Nine times a driver has won four or more Crowns in a single season and five times they have done it twice. Dunn could become the first driver to do it three times. (Brian Sears and Yannick Gingras could also do it for a third time).

REVISITING THE $409.80 WINNER

• At Hoosier Park’s 2020 Breeders Crown, Sandbetweenmytoes (a 3-year-old gelding by Somebeachsomewhere) was 30-1 on the morning line.

• Driven by Scott Zeron and trained by Jim Campbell, Sandbetweenmytoes finished a neck in front of Horse of the Year Tall Dark Stranger.

• His record going into that night: 15 6-1-1 $237,155 after going 1-for-9 as a freshman.

• He was the 7-5 favorite in the Bluegrass and had odds of 23-1 and 34-1 in two starts prior to the Crown.

• He was last to qualify finishing fifth in his Crown elim.

• That win price is $257.80 more than Kadealia who paid $152 in 2007, No. 2 all time.

AKE SVANSTEDT AND TRAINER/DRIVERS

Svanstedt’s three wins both driving and training in the past couple of Breeders Crown seasons have put him alone on the list of those who have done both:

Jimmy Takter 27 2-3-2

Richard Stillings 17 2-2-1

Jan Nordin 19 2-0-2

Ray Remmen 11 2-0-1

Roger Mayotte 6 2-1-1

Clint Galbraith 3-2-0-0

Stig Johansson 4 2-0-0

Ole Goop 3 2-0-0

SCOTT ZERON’S CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS

Zeron has had an incredible year wining Crown races; Triple Crown races, that is.

What’s to stop him from being crowned some more?

Here are his six Breeders Crowns:

2016 — Call Me Queen Be (Ross Croghan)

2018 — Captain Crunch (Nancy Takter)

2020 — Sandbetweenmytoes (Jim Campbell)

2021 — Monte Miki (Mark Evers)

2021 — Rocknificent (Linda Toscano)

2022 — Treacherous Dragon (Nancy Takter)

SIRING UPDATES

• No Somebeachsomewhere offspring for the first time since 2011. Last year SBSW took over as the No. 1 spot in earnings in the Crown’s 39-year history.

• There have been two freshmen named Trotter and Pacer of the Year, and both are prominent on the 2023 Breeders Crown card.

• Cantab Hall won the 2003 Crown at 2. He was 10-for-10 that year that concluded with a romp in the Breeders Crown to seal the deal for Trotter of the Year. He will be heard from especially with his son T C I who has a strong possibility to follow in his father’s footsteps as both a Crown winner and Trotter of the Year.

• Captaintreacherous was the 2012 Pacer of the Year despite being upended by Rockin Amadeus in the Breeders Crown. He will be prominent as usual in all pacing divisions.

AND FINALLY, 10 AMAZING BREEDERS CROWN FACTS THROUGH THE YEARS

10. It’s been 22 years since the same sire won the 2YOCT and the 3YOCT in the Breeders Crown in the same year. In 2001 Balanced Image had Liberty Balance in the 3YOCT and Duke Of York in the 2YOCT. Tactical Landing certainly has a big chance this year with headliners such as Karl and Tactical Approach.

9. It’s been 20 years since a sire has both won the 3YOCT Crown and then sired the winner of the same trotting division in their very first crop. Muscles Yankee won in 1998 and then Mr Muscleman from his first crop won in 2003. Tactical Landing won the 2018 Breeders Crown and can duplicate that in 2023.

8. Jan Johnson is the only member of the $1 million driving club in the Breeders Crown without winning one: 31 0-3-7 $1,009,912.

7. Who has made the most money in the Breeders Crown the last four years?  Amigo Volo with $700,000 (He finished first in 2019, first in 2020, and second 2022 at 102-1).

6. Trond Smedshammer has won nine Breeders Crowns; all trots and all with Sears.

5. It’s been 28 years (1995) since a different driver won every Breeders Crown race. Yet, this has happened 12 times on the training side.

4. For four straight years a driver from the land Down Under has led in Breeders Crown yearly earnings. Andy McCarthy in 2019 and Dexter Dunn each of the last three years. No driver from Down Under prior had landed in the top 10 in any year.

3. From 1984-2001 no ladies landed in the Crown winner’s circle. From 2002-22 it happened 29 times. Eleven different ladies have prevailed with Linda Toscano and Nancy Takter leading the parade with eight each.

2. Brian Sears and Dexter Dunn have the best four year stretches in Breeders Crown history. Dunn, the last four years, with $4.7 million plus and Sears from 2006-09 with $4.9 million plus.

1. Jim Campbell has won six Breeders Crowns with an average payout of $77.60.