Breeder: Kentuckiana Farms Gen Par. KY.

All Laid Out (Yankee Glide-Adelaide Hall-Conway Hall) A bay colt, All Laid Out was a $32,000 yearling purchase at the 2011 Lexington Select Sale and is owned by the All Laid Out Stable (Juha Paavola) Bordentown, N.J. Breeder: Kentuckiana Farms Gen Par. KY. All Laid Out did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. This season, he won his Breeders Crown elimination by a neck over favorite Smilin Eli in 1:52.4. All Laid Out, the 2-1 second choice, battled Smilin Eli for the early lead, getting to the top in a :27 opening quarter-mile. Smilin Eli moved almost immediately to take away the top spot and hit the halfway point in :57. From there, Deadliest Catch went three wide on the backside and pressured Smilin Eli for the lead from the outside. When the field hit the stretch, All Laid Out moved inside and got by Smilin Eli just before the wire. Trainer, Noel Daley: I didn t say anything to Dave; I just told him to not drive him like a chicken, said. I didn t tell him to leave, that was his call. I was a little surprised to see it. He used to do a few things wrong early, but touch wood, he s been good of late. He ended up with a good trip by doing that. It was nice to see him win one of these kinds of races. Hopefully he can get a piece of it next week. He s been really good his last few starts. We ve had a different driver every week; we leave them on, they usually chose off. But I think we ll keep (Miller) for next week now. All Laid Out finished second in the $368,900 Kentucky Futurity final on Oct. 6 at The Red Mile. His wins this year include a $30,000 division of the Pennsylvania All Stars on July 6 at Pocono Downs. He competed in the Hambletonian Stakes, but made an interference break in his elimination and failed to advance to the final. Both the Kentucky Futurity and Hambletonian hold eliminations and the final on the same day. The biggest disappointment was the Hambletonian where he made a break in the first heat because I thought he d be better the second heat, Daley said. But the group that owns him is very happy. It s a very open division. We ve been happy to get a piece all year. All Laid Out is a son of stallion Yankee Glide out of the mare Adelaide Hall. His family includes Delray Lobell, who won the 1989 Breeders Crown for older male trotters Honestly, I would have never bought the horse because he was about as big as a German Sheppard, Daley told the Meadowlands publicity department in a story prior to the Hambletonian. He s a well-bred horse, but just a tiny little fella. The brother (Fire To The Rain) was a bigger type and he sold for $140,000. A friend of mine from Finland, Martti Ala-seppala, picked him out. He s is a really good judge of yearlings. He was a co-breeder of Impressive Kemp, who I had in 2009 and 2010. She won the Breeders Crown at Pocono Downs for me. As a late-blooming 2-year-old, All Laid Out made early breaks in four of his nine starts. He won a $101,000 division of the Bluegrass Stakes at The Red Mile in 1:57.1. Sometimes he wasn t paying attention, and he s still not totally bombproof, Daley said. He s very lucky he s still a colt. We were close to gelding him. He s a little frustrating. He s a little guy with a big opinion of himself. He could always trot, but I never thought he was a Hambletonian horse. Noel Daley s stable, which includes assistant Mike Vanderkemp in Canada, has won seven Breeders Crown titles. Daley, a 51-year-old native of Australia who worked for Qantas Airlines before establishing his career in harness racing, is based in New Jersey. After arriving in the U.S., he worked for trainer Brett Pelling before starting his own stable in 1998. Daley s previous stars include three-time Breeders Crown champion female pacer My Little Dragon and two-time Crown winning male trotter Mr Muscleman. He won the 2011 Hambletonian with Broad Bahn. Colt trotter Explosive Matter finished second to Muscle Hill in the 2009 Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity. Driver, David Miller: was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in September. Miller, a 48-year-old native of Ohio, was voted Driver of the Year in 2003, when he led North America in purses and guided No Pan Intended to the Pacing Triple Crown. He has won a total of 11 Triple Crown races (combined pacing and trotting) and 12 Breeders Crown trophies. He ranks No. 5 in career Breeders Crown purses with $8.5 million. In 2011, Miller became the 10th driver in North American history to reach 10,000 wins. He has won at least $10 million in purses in a season 11 times, the most of any driver in history, and trails only Hall of Famers John Campbell, Ron Pierce and Mike Lachance in career earnings.

Aperfectyankee (Yankee Glide-Asixpakfromperfect-Windsong s Legacy) The brown colt was a $55,000 yearling purchase at the 2011 Lexington Select Sale and is owned by Jim Oscarsson, Vero Beach, FL. Breeder: Robert S Detweiler, KY. Aperfectyankee did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. Last weekend, Aperfectyankee finished fifth in his Breeders Crown elimination, which was won by Spider Blue Chip in 1:52.4. Aperfectyankee was beaten by 4-1/4 lengths. He advanced to the final as the fifth-place finisher with the most earnings. Trainer-driver-owner, Jim Oscarsson: He's pretty good, He was not so good (in the elimination) but I hope he is going to be better (in the final). We re going to change something this week. We re going to take the pad off his shoes and see if that helps him. I was worried about him today because he trained a lot better than he raced. It s too early to say. Aperfectyankee entered his Breeders Crown elim off a 1:53 win in a $31,666 division of the Keystone Classic at The Meadows. His other wins came in divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and a division of the Pennsylvania All Stars. He was fifth in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final. The colt finished fourth in the $1 million Hambletonian final, $500,000 Colonial Trot and $360,000 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial. I m not disappointed with him, but I know he s better than he s showed, Oscarsson said earlier this year about Aperfectyankee, who won last year s $387,250 Peter Haughton Memorial by a neck over Corky. I think with better race luck he can be right there with them at the finish. Aperfectyankee entered the Hambletonian off back-to-back wins and finished third in his elimination before ending up fourth in the same-day final. He started the final from post seven and was as many as 11 lengths behind leader and eventual winner Royalty For Life in the early goings. He finished 3-3/4 lengths back on a track that favored trotters on the lead; all three Hambletonian elims and the final were won in wire-to-wire fashion. Last year, Aperfectyankee won three of seven starts and earned $310,035. In addition to winning the Haughton, he won a division of the Tompkins-Geers and was second to 2-year-old champion Wheeling N Dealin in a division of the Champlain Stakes. He saw his season come to an end after a sixth-place finish in his elimination for the William Wellwood Memorial in September. Oscarsson decided to turn out the colt because of allergies. When we brought him back to train during the winter he was good and he s been healthy, Oscarsson said. He s a nice horse. He s perfect to handle, perfect to drive. You can do whatever you want with him. Jim Oscarsson is a 52-year-old native of Sweden who now lives in Florida. He is making his first appearance in the Breeders Crown. He also trains Nuncio, who races in the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters.

Creatine (Andover Hall-Berry Nice Muscles-Muscles Yankee) A brown colt, bred owned by Diamond Creek Racing ( Adam Bowden) Wellsville, PA. Creatine did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. This season, Creatine finished third in his Breeders Crown elimination, which was won by Spider Blue Chip in 1:52.4. Creatine was beaten by 1-1/2 lengths. Driver, Mike Lachance: This colt is unbelievably sharp right now, I didn t want to bring him first up after his big effort just six days ago, and our goal was to make the final. He finished very strong and up on the bit at the wire, and I m confident he ll be razor sharp for the final. On Oct. 6, Creatine won the $368,900 Kentucky Futurity final, the third jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown. He won by a half-length over All Laid Out in 1:53.2 over a sloppy track at The Red Mile. Creatine has won six of his last nine starts and finished worse than third only once during that span, when he got stuck on the outside in the $1 million Hambletonian final and finished eighth. In addition to the Futurity, Creatine s wins this year include his $86,900 division of the Bluegrass Stakes on Sept. 29 at The Red Mile and the $200,000 Colonial Trot Consolation on Aug. 17 at Pocono Downs in a career-best 1:52.2. He had throat surgery in July to correct a breathing problem. Creatine had a win and two second-place finishes in five starts prior to his throat surgery. Trainer, Bob Stewart: said prior to the Kentucky Futurity. He s a very good horse, I don t know if he s the best, but I guess in the next three weeks we re going to find out. Last year, Creatine won three of seven races, including a $101,000 Bluegrass Stakes division for 2-year-old male trotters in 1:57.1 at The Red Mile. We decided to stop with him and not go to the Breeders Crown or any of the other year-end races, because we thought he had raced enough as a 2-year-old, Stewart said. We were concentrating on this year and he came back to our expectations. Stewart told Lexington Courier-Journal racing writer Jennie Rees that Creatine got an infected hock prior to the yearling sale, so he was withdrawn from the sale. They actually tried to sell him at a very, very reduced rate to a few people, Stewart said in the interview. Everybody passed, thank God. Now the hock is not an issue, or we wouldn t be training him. So that worked for me and for them. Creatine is a son of stallion Andover Hall, who was trained by Stewart and earned $870,510 in his career. Andover Hall was scratched from the 2002 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old male trotters after escaping from his paddock and making it out to a nearby highway. He traveled five miles before motorists were able to catch him. Andover Hall suffered cuts to his feet and legs and was retired. Lexington native Bob Stewart, 58, has won two Breeders Crown finals, both with filly trotter Cameron Hall. She earned the Dan Patch Award as best 2-year-old and 3-year-old filly trotter. Stewart, who trained his first horse while a senior in high school, also trained Dan Patch Award winners Andover Hall and Conway Hall. Mike Lachance: is No. 2 in Breeders Crown history for wins (27) and purses ($11.83 million). Lachance, who was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1995, led all drivers in wins from 1984-87. He has won more than 10,385 career races and ranks No. 10 in history. His $189 million in lifetime purses ranks No. 3 in history. He has won the Kentucky Futurity in back-to-back years with Creatine and My MVP and has captured the race four times overall. He also has won the Hambletonian four times. The son of a cattle farmer, Lachance grew up around horses all of his life as he followed brothers Gilles, Pierre, and Andre into harness racing. Adam Bowden [Diamond Creek Farm] was raised in Maine and introduced to Standardbreds by his father and grandfather at the Maine fairs. Bowden spent summers interning at Hanover Shoe Farms, attended the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, and first managed a Saddlebred farm in Kentucky. He and his father Chris purchased a part of John Erik Magnusson s ACL Farm and Diamond Creek Farm was born. The farm is home to weanlings, yearlings and broodmares, and includes a racing and stallion share business. He is a recent addition to the Hambletonian Society board of directors.

Deadliest Catch (Chocolatier-Love You Most-Yankee Glide) Owners: Peninsula Farm Inc. (Carter and Helen Duer), Lexington, KY; L&L DeVisser LLC (Lee and Linda DeVisser), Holland, MI Breeder: Peninsula Farm Inc.; George Hobbs, Harrington, DE Deadliest Catch did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. This season, he was third in his Crown elimination, which was won by All Laid Out in 1:52.4. He briefly held the lead after a three-wide move on the backside, but ended up 1-1/2 lengths behind All Laid Out. Trainer, John Duer: He seems to have come out of the race good. Now we ll just hope we draw well and that he has a fair chance. It all depends on who gets a trip. My little horse, if they mix it up early and he s up close, he s got a pretty good brush. Elim driver, Ron Pierce said He finished the race well. It wasn t my plan to be first-up, but it just kind of worked out that way and he was strong to the wire despite that. Pierce said the colt was at his best when getting a trip. Deadliest Catch didn t get to the races this season until July because of issues with ulcers. I d have liked him to be ready for the New Jersey Sire Stakes and Hambletonian, but he had some issues with his stomach and lost a lot of weight, Duer said. He s a small horse to begin with, so when he lost that weight he didn t have a lot to fight with. He s good now and seems to be getting better every week. Deadliest Catch has been worse than third only once in his last eight starts, winning three times in conditioned races during that span. His only off-the-board finish came in his elimination for the Kentucky Futurity on Oct. 6 at The Red Mile. The colt made a break behind the gate and was unable to recover. He s kind of a nervous horse and does odd things sometimes, Duer said. That s why I drove him a lot early on. If you get to the gate first and horses start coming up from behind, he gets nervous. He is the type of horse that, the more they are going up front, the more comfortable he is, Pierce said. When you do tip him out, when it s time to go, he s got one wicked brush. So if they really mix it up in the final, and you were able to sit until the middle of the last turn and then start him up, he will pick up horses in the lane easy. Deadliest Catch is a son of stallion Chocolatier out of the mare Love You Most. Chocolatier won the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters in 2005. A year later, he won the World Trotting Derby and finished second to eventual Triple Crown winner Glidemaster in the Hambletonian. Trainer, John Duer: 35, is making his first appearance in a Breeders Crown final. He is the son of Peninsula Farm owner Carter Duer. Carter Duer was inducted into the Kentucky Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2007. Lee and Linda DeVisser have won six Breeders Crown trophies and rank No. 7 on the earnings list with $2.31 million. They are best known for breeding and owning three-time Crown champion male pacer Jenna s Beach Boy. They also won with mare pacer She s A Great Lady in 1996, 2-year-old filly pacer Lady MacBeach in 2000 and 3-year-old filly trotter Susie s Magic in 2006. Corey Callahan has driven in four previous Breeders Crown finals, with his best finish coming in 2009 when Mr Wiggles was second in the 3-year-old colt pace. The 35-year-old Callahan has only been driving regularly since 2006. He is having a career-best season, with $7.67 million in purses. He has more than 480 wins, closing in on his career high of 519 set last season. Although his father, Nick, trains horses, Callahan had little interest in the business during his teenage years. Callahan earned a business degree and played hockey at the University of Kentucky, where four years in horse-rich Lexington reconnected him with racing. After graduating, he worked for a while in the business world, but soon decided to help his father with his horses. Callahan, who has won four consecutive driving titles at Dover Downs, represented the U.S. in the 2011 World Driving Championship, finishing second to Canada s Jody Jamieson. In April, Callahan notched career victory No. 3,000.

Dewycolorintheline (Deweycheatumnhowe Magenta Hall-Conway Hall) A bay colt, a $110,000 yearling purchase at the 2011 Lexington Select Sale, is owned by Ray Schnittker, Middletown N.Y. and the Deweycolorintheline Stable(Jeff Gural(Little E), Paul Bordogna, Arden Homestead(Elbridge & Peter Gerry & Patricia Hummel), Charles Iannazzo, Ted Gewertz) Middletown, N.Y. Breeder: Little E LLC, N.Y. Dewycolorintheline did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. Last weekend, Dewycolorintheline finished fourth in his Breeders Crown elimination, which was won by All Laid Out in 1:52.4. Dewycolorintheline was beaten by 1-1/2 lengths. Trainer/Driver, Ray Schnittker: He should be good; he is better on a smaller track, I think. There are a lot of very good trotters, but he did not have to go heats (in the Kentucky Futurity). I think he will be kind of fresh. He closed well at Lexington, the one start I had him in down there. Dewycolorintheline finished sixth in his $86,900 division of the Bluegrass Stakes on Sept. 29 at Lexington s Red Mile, beaten by only 3-1/2 lengths. Among Dewycolorintheline s wins this year is the $450,000 Yonkers Trot, the first jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown. He won by two lengths over Fico in 1:57.3 on Yonkers half-mile oval. Dewycolorintheline won once in seven starts last year, which was plagued by injury. His lone win came in an elimination for the Peter Haughton Memorial in 1:56. He finished fifth in that final. He fractured a knee last year, Schnittker said. We had to put a screw in his knee and he has come back so good. I have to thank Dr. Mike Ross who did the surgery. He did a great job and now this horse is one hundred percent. Dewycolorintheline is a son of stallion Deweycheatumnhowe, who was trained and driven by Schnittker, out of the stakes-winning mare Magenta Hall. Deweycheatumnhowe won the 2008 Hambletonian and was named Trotter of the Year. He won the 2007 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters and finished third in 2008. He won 22 of 25 lifetime starts and earned $3.15 million. Ray Schnittker, 55, has won one Breeders Crown as a driver, with Deweycheatumnhowe. As a trainer, he also won with Check Me Out in the 2011 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old filly trotters. Check Me Out races Saturday in the $250,000 Mare Trot. Schnittker was named 2008 Trainer of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association. He often rides his horses and has participated in racing under saddle races. Schnittker is a director of the U.S. Trotting Association, representing upstate New York. Jeff Gural (Little E LLC) is chairman of the New Meadowlands Racetrack. He is seeking his first Breeders Crown win as an owner. Arden Homestead won two Breeders Crown titles with female trotter Me Maggie. Steven Arnold has won one Breeders Crown, with 2-year-old colt trotter Donato Hanover in 2007.

E L Rocket (Credit Winner Courtney Hall-Garland Lobell) The roan colt, a private sale, is owned by Burke Racing Stable(Ron & Sylvia Burke), M1 (Mike Bruscemi, Robert Cook,Jr., Rupert Mackenzie, Mark Weaver), Howard Taylor, and Philip Collura, PA. Breeder: Erkki Laakkonen, FL. This season, he finished second in his elimination, which was won by Spider Blue Chip in gate-to-wire style in 1:52.4. E L Rocket was beaten by a head. Driver,Yannick Gingras: He can be a little grabby at times. Tonight he was 95 percent himself. The previous week, in Lexington, he really wasn t able to get ahold of the racetrack as well as he should have. I m sure that Ronnie (trainer Burke) will do some work on him this week and make some adjustments so that he ll be 100 percent for the final. In his start prior to the Breeders Crown elim, E L Rocket finished sixth in the $368,900 Kentucky Futurity final at Lexington s Red Mile. He was third in his Futurity elimination, which was contested earlier in the day. Burke and company purchased E L Rocket in June. E L Rocket is out of the mare Courtney Hall, a stakes-winning full sister to twotime Breeders Crown winner Cameron Hall. E L Rocket was Courtney Hall s third foal and each of the first three E L Rock, Appomattox and E L Rocket earned at least $200,000. After the purchase, E L Rocket won four consecutive starts, including two on the New York Sire Stakes circuit. Since then, he is winless in 10 races, but has five second-place finishes, including in his division of the Simcoe Stakes on Aug. 31 at Mohawk. Trainer, Ron Burke: said after the purchase We made a shoeing change with him, I think the biggest thing with him was getting him on a faster, bigger track to let him stretch his legs out a bit and reach his potential. He is a classically gaited trotter so he really has no reason not to be a very good horse. Buying this horse was a big gamble. He s probably the best bred horse that s ever been in the barn. Ron Burke, who turned 44 on Oct. 16, is on the verge of rewriting the record book again. Last year, he set records for most training wins (906) and purses ($19.69 million) in a single year. This season, the stable has posted more than 865 wins and earned more than $17.12 million. His stable will lead North America in wins and earnings for the fifth consecutive year. Obviously, the better you do, the harder it is to top it, but that s what we set out to do, Burke said. We always want to do better than the previous year. I think that motivates everyone. Burke received the 2011 Trainer of the Year Award from the U.S. Harness Writers Association. His father, Mickey, got the award in 2006. Best known for his work with older horses, Burke has started to develop more young talent in recent years, such as Sweet Lou, who won the 2011 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male pacers. Burke has a total of five Breeders Crown wins, with two each from mare trotter Buck I St Pat and older male pacer Won The West. The highlight of 2012 was Foiled Again becoming the richest pacer in North American harness racing history thanks to his victory in the Canadian Pacing Derby. Foiled Again, a 9-year-old who won this year s elimination for the Breeders Crown Open Pace, now is the richest pacer in the world with $5.40 million. I didn t think Sweet Lou s Breeders Crown win (in 2011) would ever be topped, but Foiled Again winning the Canadian Pacing Derby and not going in as the favorite was a big deal, Burke said. That s the happiest I ve ever been with a horse winning. Burke s stable made 4,153 starts in 2012, another record. The total was 2,279 more than the next most starts by any stable in North America, but staying busy suits Burke. It s hard, but I have good guys and we have a great system now, Burke said. If someone handed you 200 horses and said, Just do it, it would seem impossible. But if you had 10, then 20, then 40, then a hundred, and you grew into it, it becomes just a way of life. It s not that big of a deal now. Yannick Gingras has four Breeders Crown triumphs, with three coming last season when he won with 3-year-old filly trotter Maven, 2-year-old colt pacer Rockin Amadeus and 2-year-old filly trotter To Dream On. He got his first victory in 2007 with 3-year-old filly trotter Southwind Serena at 50-1 odds. Howard Taylor has won three Breeders Crown trophies. Burke Racing, Michael Bruscemi, Mark Weaver and Phil Collura each have one.

Royalty For Life (RC Royalty Bourbon N Grits Donerail) A bay colt, Royalty For Life is co-owned by breeder Alfred Ross, South Dartmouth, MA, Raymond W Campbell, Belchertown, MA; and Paul Fontaine, Woonsocket, RI. Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life finished second to Wheeling N Dealin in both his elimination and the final of last season s Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters. This year, Royalty For Life finished fourth in his elimination, which was won by Spider Blue Chip. Royalty For Life made a first-over bid prior to the half-mile point, but was unable to pull even with gate-to-wire winner Spider Blue Chip. Royalty For Life was beaten by 1-3/4 lengths. Trainer, George Ducharme: I was happy with the way he raced (in the elimination) after the way he didn t get home so good in Lexington in the second heat (of the Kentucky Futurity. I was happy with him tonight, he didn t give it up, and he only got beat a length and a half. He held tough being first up. I am happy with that. Now we have a full week with the quick turnaround to do some more work on him and get him primed up for this race. Royalty For Life won his Kentucky Futurity elimination on Oct. 6 at The Red Mile, but finished fifth in the $368,900 final. The elims and final were contested on the same day. The same format was used in this year s $1 million Hambletonian, which was won by Royalty For Life on Aug. 3 at the Meadowlands. Prior to the Kentucky Futurity final, Royalty For Life had seven wins and one second-place finish in a span of nine starts. In addition to the Hambletonian and his Kentucky Futurity elim triumph, his victories included the $665,420 Canadian Trotting Classic, the $360,000 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial and the $294,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial. It s been quite the enjoyable ride, Ducharme said. Raymond Chip Campbell bred and owns Royalty For Life s sire, two-time Breeders Crown finalist RC Royalty. Al Ross owns Royalty For Life s dam, Bourbon N Grits. When he was younger, you would not have picked him to be such a great horse, Campbell told Boston.com earlier this year. He really came into his own when he saw there was a finish line and he wanted to be there first. There are a lot of horses who aren t as determined, when they see another horse getting close to them they will give up, but not him, he always wants to win. He is playful but determined; he s young, but slowly becoming a professional and learning the craft. Driver, Brian Sears drove Royalty For Life for the first time in the $500,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial at Pocono Downs. Royalty For Life made an early break and finished last. I didn t know enough about him, Sears said. It takes a few starts to learn about the horse. When I drove him, I was babying him. While I m babying him, two horses out-leave me, but I m just trying to be real kind to him. As soon as they tapped the brakes, when I went to grab him he got mad and ran. I learned what you can t do with him. Last season, Royalty For Life won a division of the International Stallion Stakes by one length over Dontyouforgetit in 1:54.2. He also won five times on the New York circuit and finished second to Wheeling N Dealin in the Breeders Crown. Except for three times when he went off stride on half-mile tracks, Royalty For Life never finished worse than third. I was real happy with him, Ducharme said. He was a little inconsistent, but I think getting on the big tracks really helped him. He just couldn t hold his speed going into the turns on the half-mile tracks sometimes. But he had a real good year. I can t complain about the Breeders Crown; he just got beat by a really good horse. George Ducharme, 51, is a Massachusetts native and got his start in harness racing at the now defunct Foxboro Raceway. He worked summers and some nights while in high school and started training horses on a regular basis after high school. Royalty For Life was Ducharme s first Breeders Crown starter in 2012. Ducharme s stable has earned a career-best $1.60 million this season. Ducharme is a director of the U.S. Trotting Association, representing the district from Connecticut to Maine. Owner Paul Fontaine also is a director representing the same district. Fontaine and Ross are making their second Breeders Crown appearances, both with Royalty For Life. Chip Campbell also made two trips to the finals with RC Royalty. Brian Sears has won 23 Breeders Crown trophies, good for fourth place among all drivers in the series. His $9.19 million in purses also are fourth best. On Aug. 3 at the Meadowlands Racetrack, Sears won the $1 million Hambletonian with Royalty For Life and the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks with Bee A Magician. It was the second time Sears won both marque trotting races on the same day. The other came in 2009 when he won the Hambletonian with Muscle Hill and Oaks with Broadway Schooner. Both those horses went onto win their respective Breeders Crown divisions. Muscle Hill is the only Hambletonian winner in the last 14 years to also capture the Breeders Crown for 3-year-old male trotters. Only Mack Lobell (1987) and Malabar Man (1997) have achieved the dual wins.

Smilin Eli (Muscles Yankee Gerri s Joy Enjoy Lavec) The bay colt is owned by breeder Nicholas Cimino, Pompano Beach, FL. Smilin Eli was unraced as a 2-year-old to give him a chance to mature into his large frame. Last weekend, Smilin Eli finished second to All Laid Out in his Breeders Crown elimination in 1:52.4. Smilin Eli was beaten by a neck. All Laid Out battled Smilin Eli for the early lead, getting to the top in a :27 opening quarter-mile. Smilin Eli moved almost immediately to take away the top spot and hit the halfway point in :57. From there, Deadliest Catch went three wide on the backside and pressured Smilin Eli for the lead from the outside. When the field hit the stretch, All Laid Out moved inside and got by Smilin Eli just before the wire. Driver, Tim Tetrick: This colt finished well within himself tonight, he s been very consistent all year long and always puts out a good effort and tries hard. He had a few weeks off and qualified well and this was a good tightener for him. I look for him to be even sharper in the final. Smilin Eli was off since Sept. 14 when he finished fifth in the $665,420 Canadian Trotting Classic. He won a qualifier at Pocono Downs in 1:53.3 on Oct. 3 to tune up for the Breeders Crown elim. Among Smilin Eli s wins this season is the $150,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes champ ionship on June 1 at the Meadowlands. He beat Corky by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:52.1. Smilin Eli finished second in the $1 million Hambletonian final and second in the $500,000 Colonial Trot. He was fifth in the $360,000 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial. Smilin Eli is a son of stallion Muscles Yankee, who won the 1998 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old male trotters, out of the stakes-winning mare Gerri s Joy. Trainer, David M. Smith: is making his fourth trip to a Breeders Crown final. He won an elimination with Midori Hanover in the 1998 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old filly trotters and finished third in the final. Smith is a 61-year-old from Hudson, N.Y., and resides in Freehold, N.J. Smith, noted for his knack with trotters, has combined his career with training horses and coaching youth hockey. He has known Nicholas Cimino for 25 years. Nicholas Cimino is making his first appearance in a Breeders Crown final. Tim Tetrick has won 10 Breeders Crown championships, including a record four on one night last year at Woodbine Racetrack. He has been named Driver of the Year a record three times by the U.S. Harness Writers Association, most recently in 2012, and received Harness Tracks of America s Driver of the Year Award three times. A native of Illinois, Tetrick has rewritten the harness racing record book in his 16-year career. He was the first driver to earn $1 million in purses in a year before turning 20, accomplishing the feat in 2001. In 2007 he won a record $18.35 million in purses and a year later topped that figure with $19.73 million. He has been the sport s leading purse-earner for each of the last six seasons and is No. 1 again this year. His 2007 campaign was memorable not only for the amount of money his horses earned, but for the number of times he visited the winner s circle. Tetrick won 1,189 races, shattering the previous record of 1,077 set in 1998. He became the first driver to lead the sport in both wins and purses in the same season since 1991. That year also saw Tetrick become the youngest driver to win a million-dollar race as he captured the Art Rooney Pace with Southwind Lynx. Several weeks later, Tetrick and Southwind Lynx added a second million-dollar win with a triumph in the Meadowlands Pace. Tetrick was the youngest driver to reach a number of career win milestones, including 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 victories. He also was the youngest driver to reach $100 million in lifetime purses and his $137 million in career earnings rank No. 7 in history.

Spider Blue Chip(Andover Hall Southwind Caitlin Muscles Yankee) The brown colt, purchased at Lexington Select Yearling Sale for $60,000 is owned by David McDuffee Delray Beach, FL. And Melvin Hartman, Ottawa, Ont. Spider Blue Chip did not race in last year s Breeders Crown. This season, he won his Breeders Crown elimination by a head over E L Rocket in 1:52.4. Spider Blue Chip led the entire way and held off a late burst down the stretch from E L Rocket. Kentucky Futurity winner Creatine was third and Hambletonian champion Royalty For Life was fourth. Trainer Chuck Sylvester: Once he went to the front and everybody got away the way they did, I was happy, I knew (favorite Royalty For Life) would come first up and when he didn t clear right away I thought we had a shot. That s the way it worked out for us. Spider Blue Chip won the $500,000 Colonial Trot on Aug. 17 at Pocono Downs. Other wins include the $260,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship on Sept. 13 at The Meadows. He was second by a head to Royalty For Life in the $294,000 Stanley Dancer Memorial at the Meadowlands and third in the Kentucky Futurity final. He finished fifth in the Hambletonian. This horse tries every week and he ll show up, Sylvester said. That s what s good. Anybody that gets a trip can win this race. Noel Daley s horse (All Laid Out) has really come around at this time and he s really good right now. So far this season, Spider Blue Chip has won 5 of 7 starts on a five-eighths-mile racetrack. His only off-the-board finish on a five-eighths came when he made an interference break. Last year, Spider Blue Chip won two of eight starts, including a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, and earned $89,181. He ended the campaign, though, by going off stride in his final four races. Sylvester thought the horse s woes had to do with attitude and Spider Blue Chip was gelded. Soon thereafter, Sylvester discovered the trouble was caused by a foot abscess. He was out a month and he popped a gravel in his left hind, Sylvester said. If we had known that, we wouldn t have cut him. But it s too late now. Spider Blue Chip is a son of stallion Andover Hall out of the mare Southwind Catlin. Andover Hall is a full brother to mare Emilie Cas El, who was Canada s Horse of the Year in 1994, as well as standout male trotters Angus Hall and Conway Hall. Bob Stewart, who trains Creatine in this Breeders Crown final, was the trainer of Andover Hall, Angus Hall and Conway Hall. Chuck Sylvester, 73, is third among all trainers in Breeders Cro wn history in wins (12) and purses ($4.90 million). Sylvester trained three-time Breeders Crown champion male trotter Mack Lobell. He was Horse of the Year in 1987 and 1988. He also trained two-time Crown winning male trotter Pine Chip. His most recent Crown winner was 3-year-old colt trotter Muscles Yankee in 1998. Sylvester has won the Hambletonian four times. Only Bill Haughton, Stanley Dancer and Ben White have won it more as trainers. Spider Blue Chip is owned by David McDuffee and Melvin Hartman, who also are among the owners of Breeders Crown 3-year-old filly trot favorite Bee A Magician. McDuffee and Hartman were among the owners of 2009 Breeders Crown 2-year-old filly trot winner Poof She s Gone. McDuffee has been part of three other Crown winners, including two-time champion male pacer Armbro Operative in 1996-97. His other victory came with 3- year-old colt pacer Magical Mike in 1994. Spider Blue Chip was bred by Olympic champion show jumper McLain Ward. Driver: Ron Pierce: is third in Breeders Crown history for wins (26) and purses ($11.23 million). He will be driving Beach Memories for the first time. Pierce was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2005. Earlier this month he joined John Campbell as the only drivers with at least $200 million in career purses. He is a three-time winner of the Hambletonian, with American Winner in 1993, Donato Hanover in 2007 and Muscle Massive in 2010. Donato Hanover was voted 2007 Horse of the Year.