History

By Tanya McDermott and Brad Bishop

1998

AFTER years of planning, months of hard work and weeks of anticipation, the opening chapter in the Breeders Crown history book was written at Bendigo on May 3, 1998.

Twelve qualifying heats for two-year-olds were conducted at the Lords Raceway complex two days prior to the inaugural finals which offered a combined $145,000 in prizemoney.

Curiosity drew a crowd nudging 1700 to the first Sunday afternoon feature harness racing meeting to be conducted in Victoria in the modern era and off-course punters invested $405,000 on the eight-race program.

Brilliant youngster Flubber made it seven wins from eight starts when he claimed the colts and geldings final for top New South Wales trainer Peter Walsh and driver Ricky Thurlow.

The success followed a victory in the time-honoured Bathurst Gold Crown Final and a second placing behind Shakamaker in the Australian Pacing Gold Final.

Widely-travelled youngster Lombo Adreamin triumphed in the fillies division for Cranbourne horseman Noel Alexander.

The daughter of Classic Garry had already raced in Western Australia and Queensland before completing the Breeders Crown undefeated.

Her victory would be the first of five Crowns that master reinsman Chris Alford has captured to date.

Popular Drouin trainer Gary Quinlan secured the inaugural trotters final with diminutive filly Tammy Rama who was backed in from 8/1 to 5/1 with bookmakers before scoring.

Maoris Crown – the sire of classy modern day trotter Enjoy A Crownie – was beaten into third as a 1/6 favourite after sitting three wide for much of the journey.

1999

LEADING juvenile trainer Peter Manning was represented by an unprecedented five starters in the fillies division of the 1999 Breeders Crown.

Manning’s runners included star youngster Pelicanrama who was shooting for her 13th two-year-old win of the season and started an odds-on favourite in the $75,000 final.

She could only manage fourth placing, however, behind the Scott Stewart-trained and driven Cornsilk who recorded what would be the first of a host of feature race successes.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Manning stable though which won the trotters’ final with Klaus Koch, part-owned by Bendigo Harness Racing Club secretary Barry Edwards.

Named after the leading European administrator of the same, Klaus Koch only went on to win another three races in four seasons of racing.

Father and son team Ange and Ray Pace combined to record an emotional win in the colts and geldings final with Gozo Heritage, a youngster named after their homeland of Malta.

His winning price was over $100 on the Victorian TAB – a record that still stands for the Breeders Crown.

A total of $195,000 in prizemoney was distributed on the day which attracted 1456 patrons trackside.

2000

A NEW dimension was added to the Breeders Crown in 2000 when a three-year-old division was run for the first time.

The finals – two $80,000 finals for pacers and a $45,000 final were trotters - were staged at Moonee Valley on August 12.

Victory went the way of odds-on favourites Oscar Le Vant (colts and geldings) and Djerriwarrh (trotters), whilst New Zealand pacer Dancingonmoonlight tasted success in as second favourite in the fillies division.

Cornsilk was the only two-year-old champion from the previous season to compete, but had to be content with third behind the Ted Demmler-driven Kiwi raider. 

Bendigo again hosted the two-year-old division, with nine qualifying heats staged on Wednesday night, May 24 leading into the finals which were run for the first and only time on a Saturday night three days later.

Despite prizemoney for the meeting growing to $260,000, the event attracted the smallest crowd in Breeders Crown history of 1180 people.

As a result, the event returned to a Sunday afternoon timeslot the following year.

On the flip side, off-course turnover rose by a staggering 42 percent in comparison with the previous year to top $623,000.

The two-year-old pacing finals, offering a landmark $100,000 stake, were won by Manifold Bay and Scooting Along.

All the hype surrounded Manifold Bay who was the subject of hefty six figure offers even before he debuted.

He stretched his unbeaten streak to three as a $1.30 favourite in the colts final, but he only had a half-head to spare over the fast finishing SA pacer Duomo.

Outstanding juvenile squaregaiter Our First Jewel added his name to the trotters honour roll and connections took home the lion’s share of the $40,000 purse.

2001

CHAMPION Bendigo reinsman Brian Gath thrilled a big hometown crowd in 2001 when he combined with outstanding filly Sassy Sarah to win the Breeders Crown two-year-old final.

Gath provided one of the event’s most memorable images when he raised his right hand and triumphantly waved to the grandstand as they cruised to an effortless 20-metre victory.

Excitement machine Henschke defeated Star Bonus as a long odds-on favourite in the colts and geldings division, narrowly denying the popular veteran a huge feature race double.

Lancefield hobbyist Roger Reeves celebrated the biggest win of his training career when Starlight Josh lowered the colours of a talented line-up in the trotters final.

Harness Racing Victoria ran a huge 12-race program featuring qualifying heats at Lords Raceway five days prior to the June 10 finals which were timed to coincide with the Queen’s Birthday long weekend for the first time.

Prizemoney jumped to $477,500, with the purse for the two pacing finals doubling to $200,000 in the space of just 12 months.

Attendance also increased by just over 35 percent when compared with the previous year.

Just two New Zealand visitors crossed the Tasman in search of Breeders Crown glory in the three-year-old division but both claimed top honours at Moonee Valley on August 11.

Trainer Dave Anderson won the $45,000 trotters final with Locofoco, while Cran Dalgety secured the $82,500 fillies final with The Sparks A Flyin.

Both horses were partnered by New Zealand’s subsequent World Champion reinsman Mark Jones who had a night to remember.

Tromos was rewarded for his consistency when he won the colts and geldings final for the “Green Team” of Jayne Davies and Chris Alford.

2002

HARNESS Racing Victoria implemented a significant format change for the 2002 Breeders Crown which marked the inaugural running of a truly Australasian series.

For the first time, two-year-old heats were conducted throughout each state of Australia and New Zealand.

Qualifiers then progressed to semi-finals run at Bendigo on June 4, leading into the finals on Sunday afternoon, June 9 when prizemoney totaled $412,000.

The 2002 Crown also attracted unprecedented support from breeders and owners.

A total of 624 two-year-olds accepted for the series, including 273 pacing colts and geldings, 296 pacing fillies and 55 trotters.

This represented a significant increase on the 2001 series which drew 341 acceptors.

Just over 2000 people cheered crowd favorite Lombo La Fe Fe to victory in the fillies division, adding the Breeders Crown title to her burgeoning CV which already included the Australian Pacing Gold and Bathurst Tiara Finals.

The Bendigo success was the eighth in a brilliant winning streak which extended to 17 for the Jayne Davies-trained daughter of Troublemaker.

Striking Kiwi invader Bellas Boy claimed the colts and geldings division by 15-metres and started an amazing trend that would see him become the first of five consecutive Breeders Crown juvenile champions to have won the Victoria Derby the following year.

In the trotters division, Kyvalley Road delivered the first of three Breeders Crown titles to flamboyant Nagambie horseman Chris Lang when he upstaged Kiwi raider Solar Active.

The three-year-old finals were run at Moonee Valley on August 24 and saw Sassy Sarah complete a clean sweep of the fillies section after winning the two-year-old final 12 months earlier.

Whitten delivered husband and wife team Lisa and David Miles one of their most significant wins in the colts and geldings division, whilst  pocket dynamo Zesta blitzed her rivals by a staggering 35-metres – the greatest winning margin to date.

2003

A DELUGE of rain which forced the abandonment of four opposition thoroughbred meetings on the same day proved a godsend for the 2003 Breeders Crown.

Off-course punters invested an astonishing $1,062,705 on the 10-race program, a figure which remains a turnover record for the event.

Staged on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in the previous two years, the meeting reverted to a new home in the August timeslot and featured the two and three-year-old finals together on the same card for the first time

During a cold snap which swept across the nation, more than two inches of rain fell on Bendigo in the 48-hours leading up to the August 24 meeting, yet three sub-2:00 mile rates were recorded on the day.

In addition, Kyvalley Road’s winning mile rate of 2:02.9 in the three-year-old trotters’ final was just 0.3 of a second outside the track record for the 1965-mere journey.

He became the first trotter to win back-to-back Breeders Crown titles after securing the two-year-old division 12 months earlier.

Bad Boy Truscott took 1.3 seconds off his own class record in the two-year-old trotters final, leading home a handy trifecta which featured A Touch Of Flair in second and Broke As Usual third.

But the day belonged to champion reinsman Gavin Lang who drove three winners, including Self Denial in the two-year-old fillies final and The Sentry in the two-year-old colts and geldings division.

The Sentry emulated the feat of stablemate Manifold Bay who won the same event three years earlier for young trainer Grant Crane.

Despite the wintry conditions, almost 2800 people attended the 2003 Crown, enjoying champagne harness racing and a live concert by country music star Adam Brand.

Total stakes for the meeting rose to $781,700, a staggering $369,700 increase on 2002 and an enormous step forward as the event rapidly closed in on its first $1 million prize pool.

2004

AUSTRALIAN music icon Troy Cassar-Daley was the headline act for Bendigo’s Super Sunday meeting in 2004.

The popular singer/songwriter’s appearance followed the successful introduction of a concert featuring country performer Adam Brand at the 2003 Breeders Crown.

On the promotional front, the August 22 concert was complemented by a trade expo held on-course at Lords Raceway which showcased harness-racing specific products and services.

The attractions proved a hit with industry participants and members of the public alike and resulted in a record attendance of 4317.

Wagering was similarly impressive, with $715,200 bet on the 10-race program by off-course punters.

The figure was second only at the time to the previous year’s turnover which topped $1 million courtesy of the a host abandoned meetings.

The New Zealand flag flew proudly on the day with Kiwi raiders winning four of the six Group 1 finals.

Super Command and Hurricane Flyer triumphed in the two and three-year-old trotting divisions, saluting for visiting trainers Gareth Dixon and Dave Anderson respectively.

Molly Darling then claimed the two-year-old fillies final for trainer-driver Brent Mangos and Fake Denario ran a track record 1:56 in beating fellow Kiwi pacer Lennon in an action packed three-year-old colts and gelding final.

Emmas Only salvaged some local pride in the two-year-old colts and geldings final and Nemeeshar led home an Australian trifecta in the three-year-old fillies division.

2005

CRANBOURNE delivered a convincing impersonation of Antarctica for the 2005 Breeders Crown on Sunday, August 21.

Defying the extreme cold, 2000 diehards were trackside as the best young pacers and trotters from both sides of the Tasman battled for $964,000 in prizemoney.

Their appetites had been whet by a brilliant program comprising eight semi-finals at the same track on the previous Tuesday night.

Television personality Andrew O’Keefe played a starring role on the day, hosting a sweepstakes competition which gave away more than $10,000 in prizes to on-course patrons.

For the second consecutive year, the Breeders Crown was also accompanied by a trade expo featuring businesses and organisations with a direct link to the racing industry.

Giant mare Ladyinred was the only Victorian to win a feature final, cementing the event’s prominent position on the national and international harness racing calendar.

Both two-year-old pacing finals went to New South Wales courtesy of Lady Waratah and Divisive, while Kiwi giant Baileys Dream won the three-year-old colts and geldings final.

The Shaky Isles asserted its authority in the trotting divisions, with Galleons Assassin winning the two-year-old final and Super Command completing back-to-back victories in the three-year-old decider with local ace John Caldow in the sulky.

Cranbourne was the first venue outside Bendigo to host Australia’s premier two and three-year-old carnival after Harness Racing Victoria unveiled a new regional rotation policy.

“The Breeders Crown is fast becoming the premier harness racing event in Australia and the opportunity to grow the brand and showcase it to the wider community was paramount to our decision,” HRV chairman Neil Busse said at the time.

2006

THE Million Dollar Babies took centre stage as the Breeders Crown road show rolled into Ballarat for the first time in 2006.

Once again the event re-wrote the history books with total stakes of $1,168,000 distributed.

The figure established a record for a provincial race meeting of any code in Australia or New Zealand.

Off-course punters bet $851,000 on the star-studded 10-race program and a picture perfect winter’s day drew 3768 people to Bray Raceway which was abuzz with activity on and off the racetrack.

A significant portion of the monster crowd had come to see the “Grey Bullet” Lombo Pocket Watch who was shooting for his 16th consecutive victory in the $284,000 two-year-old colts and geldings final.

The champion youngster did not disappoint, coming from an impossible position at the top of the straight to win convincingly for the Fitzpatrick family and leviathan owner Mick Lombardo.

Quality filly One Dream secured another two-year-old Crown for New Zealand, justifying her $1.60 starting price and tough-as-nails baby My Missindependent triumphed in the $150,000 two-year-old trotters final.

Her victory provided star young reinsman Greg Sugars with his first Group 1 and underrated trainer Jamie Madruga with a much deserved feature race win.

Lady Waratah successfully defended her Breeders Crown title in the three-year-old fillies division, but the colts and geldings and trotters finals produced surprise results with Tip Your Hat and Right Interest both upstaging long odds-on favourites.

Queenslander Tip Your Hat was ultra impressive claiming the prized scalp of Divisive, thus ending the defending champion’s 14 race winning streak. 

Ballarat and District Trotting Club officials hardly had time to chill the champagne before Harness Racing Victoria announced it had been chosen again to host the 2007 Breeders Crown.

2007

The 2007 series possessed all the usual anticipation of a Breeders Crown, but with a little extra punch. This was the series that saw superstar Kiwi three-year-old Changeover head to Melbourne for the first time, where gun grey Lombo Pocket Watch would be waiting for him.

It was the clash Australian harness racing fans had been waiting months for. The highly-rated visitor competing outside his own backyard for the first time against the reigning Breeders Crown champion of their age group.

While the script went to plan in the semi finals, when the drawcards both effortlessly won their qualifiers, the prospect of them fighting out the finish took a hit later that night at the barrier draw for the $168,000 final when Lombo Pocket Watch drew inside the back row.

That effectively cost him any chance of winning the race and while Changeover was free-wheeling along in front, “The Grey Bullet” was strung up in traffic and never got a crack at them.

The Geoff Small-trained Changeover, with David Butcher in the cart, went on to beat The Gunstar and Boris Badenov with a luckless Lombo Pocket Watch resigned to fourth place.

And while the Changeover-Lombo Pocket Watch battle was the star attraction of the 2007 series, the star three-year-olds weren’t the only guns in action.

The three-year-old fillies title was won in emphatic fashion by star Queenslander Fleur De Lil.

The Luke McCarthy-trained-and-driven daughter of Armbro Operative took her record to 21 wins from 26 starts – and more than $500,000 in stakes – when she beat New South Wales filly Miss Hazel and two-year-old champion One Dream in the $168,000 final.

The two-year-old colts and geldings crown was also won by a star of his generation. The Wayne Honan-trained blueblood Flightpath overpowered local hope Maffioso to claim a memorable decider and pocket another $198,000 for connections.

But the series wasn’t without its upsets. Kept For Pleasure was the raging favourite for the two-year-old fillies final, but she had no answer for Staccato, who provided trainer-driver combination of Steve O’Donoghue and Todd Matthews with a career highlight.

The trotters’ finals saw leading Victorian trainer Lance Justice notch a maiden Breeders Crown title with Earl Of Mot in the three-year-old section, while Nick Youngson’s Danny Bouchea held out arch rival Lord Of The Gym to win the two-year-old final, which carried $165,000 in prizemoney.