quotes by James Platz / race details by Jay Bergman for the Breeders Crown

Bythemissal’s co-owner Mark Weaver said the trip played a key role in winning the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace on Saturday night (Oct. 28) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in a 1:48 mile over a track rated “sloppy.”

“I think he got a little better trip than Tattoo Artist,” Weaver said. “He had a better post and he was able to utilize that to his advantage and that was probably the difference in getting out and making him work behind him. It just came down to who had the most left in the lane and, luckily, we did.

“Then, to get Lou’s Pearlman up for second was kind of icing on the cake… Part of me wanted Lou’s Pearlman to win. He’s a full brother to My Girl EJ.”

From the outset, Bythemissal and Tattoo Artist were locked in a duel for the front end, with Yannick Gingras keeping Tattoo Artist and driver Louis-Philippe Roy parked three wide for much of the first turn. Tattoo Artist needed nearly a half mile to gain control and that was cut in :53.2.

Lou’s Pearlman and Tim Tetrick rambled without cover to challenge the leader on the far turn, with Allywag Hanover in tow second over, but they would not reach the leader until the homestretch.

Gingras tipped Bythemissal, a son of Downbytheseaside—Dismissal, out to take on Tattoo Artist in mid-stretch and they steadily were able to go by a determined favorite. Lou’s Pearlman, after taking much air, was still fighting to the wire and at odds of 45-1 got up for second giving trainer Ron Burke a 1-2 finish in the contest. Tattoo Artist held third, with Allywag Hanover and Abuckabett Hanover rounding out the top five finishers.

The margin of victory was 1-1/2 lengths.

“Yannick did what he had to do,” Roy said. “That’s what I told [driver] Doug [McNair], I said, ‘If I was him, I would’ve done the same.’ Sometimes I cannot change the racing, but I don’t think it takes anything away from [Tattoo Artist] because he raced pretty well.

“Leaving the gate, I was trying maybe to get on Yannick’s back, but he was just making sure he was keeping me there, three wide there, so what can you do?”

Bred by Stephen Dey III, Bythemissal was a winner for the 10th time in 14 starts this year for owners Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Rich Lombardo Racing, and Weaver Bruscemi. The victory, which pushed Bythemissal’s career earnings above $2 million, snapped a seven-race win streak for Tattoo Artist. Sent off as the 9-5 second choice in the field, Bythemissal returned $5.80 to win.

“That’s how you’re supposed to race,” said Burke following the victory, giving credit to his driver for forcing the action. “Nobody gives an inch.”

Gingras said, “There was a lot of pushing on the first turn. I wanted to follow Tattoo Artist and thankfully we were able to do it.”

Burke won two trophies on Breeders Crown weekend, giving him 20 in his career. He is No. 2 among trainers in the history of the event, trailing only Jimmy Takter’s record 34. Gingras also won two Crowns, upping his lifetime total to 26, sixth most among drivers in history.

“Someone said, ‘It was a great weekend’ and it really was,” Weaver said. “We really had two great races. The 2-year-old filly pace and this is awesome, but we had some disappointments in there because Celebrity Bambino had a perfect trip and came up empty. Strong Poison, we were hoping for a little more from her, but she’s had kind of a tough year working through some injuries.

“Overall, Hoosier is awesome and they did a great job. I hope they host it every three years or whenever they’ve got. We’ll come back and do it again.”