Very often, Breeders Crown barrier draws are all but irrelevant.
Class discrepancies at age restricted level are vast and few variables, even double-figure alleys, bear serious significance in the overall scheme.
That’s not the case in 2021.
Last night, draws were conducted for all eight Group 1 Breeders Crown deciders to be staged at Tabcorp Park this Saturday night.
And the ramifications of those draws will be definitive.
On one hand, you have horses given little chance at 6pm yesterday like Yambukian and Lifes A Beach, who each drew gate one in the BC finals for three-year-old males and three-year-old females, now rated serious players.
On the other, Australia’s favourite filly, Ladies In Red, now faces a herculean task in the three-year-old girls’ final after landing barrier 12.
Without stressing the point too finely, these draws and these contests are just what the Breeders Crown required.
Since it’s inception just over two decades ago, the Breeders Crown has reigned supreme as Australasian harness racing’s age-restricted pinnacle.
But recent years haven’t been kind.
Various factors, including Mark Purdon’s ownership of the series, led to less horses paying up to compete, then there was the long-awaited, pandemic-driven shift which saw the Crown switched from late winter to late autumn.
In between, the drift from its country roots to a more metropolitan focus also caused consternation.
None of that will matter this Saturday night.
Here, courtesy of last night’s draws, we have an octet of elite level races which will all harbour many winning chances.
One way or another, stories will emerge, and interest restored.
Crucially, at a time where interstate and international competition has withered on the vine, we may have multiple outside successes.
Rickie Alchin, who trains from New South Wales, has a huge chance to claim the Breeders Crown trotting final for juvenile fillies, while his brother Jarrod will have multiple hopes on Australia’s richest harness race night.
Then there’s Bettor Twist, the Kiwi filly with wild stamina, who should start favourite in the three-year-old pacing fillies’ division of the Crown after drawing four.
The scene is surely set; now it’s time for action.
As the sun slowly descended over Tabcorp Park on Saturday night, champion trainer Emma Stewart must have felt anything but optimistic.
At 6pm, with the first of eight Breeders Crown semis for the evening run and won, there wasn’t much for Stewart and partner Clayton Tonkin to smile about.
Amazingly, not one of their four runners in that opening event had qualified to contest this weekend’s Breeders Crown final for two-year-old colts and geldings.
Included among the failures was Beach Villa, one of the series’ biggest headline names.
The signs were ominous.
Then they weren’t.
Despite that inauspicious start, the Stewart/Tonkin juggernaut was immediately back on track.
And the results were devastating.
In the seven subsequent semi-finals, Stewart trained 24 runners; 19 of those 24 horses will race for Group 1 glory this weekend.
Perhaps, of all their stunning achievements on Saturday night, the magnum opus was race four, the first BC semi for two-year-old fillies.
In an act of swaggering domination, Stewart filled five of the first six positions, meaning each and every one of her combatants qualified for their Breeders Crown decider.
And we’re not talking favourites only here.
One of those qualifiers Heavenly Sign was $101, and another, Our Little Jet, was $151.
Despite all the heroics of last weekend, things get harder from here.
Stewart dominates markets for two of this weekend’s Breeders Crown pacing finals.
Petillante, Encipher and Rich Beauty are among the popular elects in the two-year-old fillies’ division, while Act Now, Beyond Delight and Major Moth are at the top of betting in the three-year-old colts and geldings’ clash.
Things look less promising in the BC final for two-year-old colts and geldings with their only representative being Anotherbigman.
Then there’s the final for three-year-old fillies.
Stewart has six of the first eight market leaders in that division but not the favourite, Bettor Twist.
In many ways that will be the contest which will define her night.
Kerryn Manning has manifested many miracles in her prolific, pioneering career.
But she may have surprised even herself winning Saturday night’s final event at Tabcorp Park.
Despite being the winningest horsewoman of either racing code in history, even Manning herself couldn’t recall driving a higher-priced winner than Belladonna Girl in the Breeders Crown Graduate Free For All at $126.
Staggeringly, that triumph came straight after Manning had won race 10 aboard Sounds Perfect at $31.
That’s a running double worth something near 4000 to 1.
Add the fact that Manning qualified every one of her Breeders Crown semi-final drives for their Group 1 finals and this was a serious night out.
Legends, you see, are legends for a reason and there’s no bigger legend in Australasian harness racing than Kerryn Manning.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.