by Debbie Little

As The Meadowlands prepares to play host to Breeders Crown eliminations next weekend — Friday and Saturday (Oct. 18 and 19) — for the 40th edition of the series, here’s a look back at the first Crown race ever contested at The Big M.

It was 1987, the fourth year of the Breeders Crown, and The Meadowlands played host to the race for older horse and gelding trotters won by Sugarcane Hanover campaigned by Hall of Famers, Ron Waples (driver), Jim Simpson (trainer), Charlie Coleman (caretaker) and John Simpson, Sr. (owner).

Unlike today, where one track plays host to all 12 races, when it started, the Breeders Crown was more of a traveling road show giving different tracks the opportunity to be a part of this incredibly special event.

In its inaugural year, 1984, there were only eight Crown races, for 2- and 3-year-olds. The following year, a trot and pace for older horses was added and in 1986, a pace and trot for mares was also added. Unlike their pacing counterparts, mare trotters were thought to be able to be competitive with the guys and therefore could and did race in that older trot in 1985. In fact, from 1996 to 2003, the Mare Trot was discontinued and they had to compete with the fellas, until 2004 when the Mare Trot was reinstated. In 1993 the trots and paces for older horses were changed to opens where 3-year-olds could take on their elders.

Just like the Breeders’ Cup for thoroughbreds, the Crown was designed to be a year-end championship, which could at least partly explain why The Meadowlands — which, at the time, did not race past early August — only played host to a single race in 1987 and 1988.

Despite the fact that The Big M featured that ’87 Crown race on a Friday on the same night as the Hambletonian Oaks — the Crowns were on ESPN back then and that was when they had availability — Waples said it was still an important race.

“It was a Breeders Crown and it was special and it meant an awful lot to people,” Waples said. “And if they say that it didn’t mean anything, then you’re talking to a fool.”

Waples won three Crown finals in 1986, including the 3-Year-Old Colt Trot with Sugarcane Hanover.

“I think all the guys that raced in them all kind of had the same thought, ‘If I can win the Breeders Crown, that’s going to be a feather in my cap; this is something special and I just hope to God, I can win one of these,’” Waples said.

Winning a Crown race at a premier track like The Meadowlands may have been special, but according to Waples, for him it was more about winning with Sugarcane Hanover.

“There were maybe four or five horses in my 60 years or however long I was doing it, that I had so much confidence in that I could do whatever I wanted, and he was one of them,” Waples said. “He just was so powerful and so handy. He just couldn’t leave out of the gate really quick; it was better not to leave out of the gate. After that, any time you wanted to pull the right line, if you wanted to save it till late, wanted to pull at the half, whatever, he was more than willing to accommodate and most times he did.

“And Charlie Coleman that looked after him and Jimmy Simpson that trained him just did an exceptional job with the horse.”

Even though it was only a six-horse field, Waples said it was still a competitive bunch.

“I think there were two, they weren’t front runners, but they were very aggressive horses, Dicks Bell and Express Ride, who I thought was a great, great horse,” Waples said. “And when they got to the front, you know they’re going to roll on. So, that’s helpful for me if I want to just kind of relax. That’s basically what happened.”

Even though he was still six or seven lengths off the lead at the top of the stretch, Sugarcane Hanover crossed the wire in front by 1½ lengths over Tabor Lobell in a stakes record 1:54.3, becoming just the second horse to score a Crown double. Replay here. The first to win multiple Crowns was trotting filly JEF’s Spice who won at 2 in 1985 and then again at 3.

“Like I said, I’ve probably got five best horses all the time that I drove, and he was sure as hell one of them, and Ralph Hanover was another one, and Presidential Ball was another one,” Waples said. “I mean, you just knew what you had in your hands so you could make a mistake and you’re still going to come out of it looking all right.

“That training center, Southern Oaks, that Carter Pinske runs and owns, Mr. Simpson said, ‘Sugarcane Hanover bought this training center,’” Waples said of the training center that Brian Pinske bought from Simpson in 2000. “If there was no Sugarcane Hanover, there would be no training center. He told me that himself.”

Looking back at those early days, Waples said that then Hambletonian Society president Tom Charters didn’t get the credit he deserved for coming up with the Crown. Waples said he’s also happy to see the Crown turning 40.

“So, you know, when it started, nobody was sure it’d still be going now,” Waples said. “There was a bit of uncertainty there because there was going to be so much money involved and everything. So, I’m thinking from my point of view as I remember, if I remember correctly, it was just a little bit of a wonderment.

“Will it still be here 10 years from now? Will it still be here five years from now? But it was kind of the dedication and very hard work from a lot of people like Tom Charters and underneath Tom Charters that it’s still here today.”

Writer’s note: If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend that you check out the early Breeders Crown races on YouTube. The ESPN broadcasts are top notch and it’s a wonderful walk down memory where you get to see great horses and several beloved tracks that sadly are no longer with us.