MILTON, October 17, 2025– Brandon Blvd made it look easy when he captured the first of two $34,250 Breeders Crown eliminations in harness racing for 2-year-old stallion and gelding pacers (Race 7). The son of Down on the coast reached a new mark of 1:48.4 and a Canadian record, surpassing Sweet Lou’s 2011 record.
Brandon Blvd was sent off as a 2-1 pick and was handled perfectly by Dexter Dunn for trainer Andrew Harris.
“It’s a whole mile, isn’t it?” said driver Dexter Dunn. “Obviously the factions are focusing on a mile or so. But you know, he’s just classy. He does what you want to do and is a real racehorse; he wants to race with the other horses.”
Brandon Blvd earned a seventh career victory from nine starts with this latest triumph, boosting his career earnings to $469,371 for owners William Pollock, Bruce Areman and trainer Harris – all from New Jersey.
This was his third victory in a row, as he captured the $74,500 Bluegrass Stakes on September 26 and the $88,000 International Stallion Stakes at Lexington’s Red Mile on October 4, when he achieved his previous lifetime limit of 1:49.1 on both occasions.
BRANDON BLVD REPEAT
Papa, the 38-1 longshot with Louis-Philippe Roy on the bike, jumped quickly from the eight-hole and led the field through snappy fractions of :25.2 and :52.4 before tiring as Driver Dexter Dunn neatly held Brandon Blvd in third behind Al Papi (Yannick Gingras) who sat in second behind the leading speedster.
“Louis was trying to get his copy (father),” driver Dunn added. “But he (Brandon Blvd) marched there. I’m really impressed with the way the colt led down tonight. He obviously had a great year, and he’s still working on it.”
As the field turned for home and passed the three-quarter mark of 1:21, Al Papi began his move, allowing Brandon Blvd to sail clear down the stretch, while the latter unleashed a powerful late kick to easily fly past his rival in his track record.
Al Papi gained the lead in the final yards, ceding second place to Fragment (Jason Barlett), while Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn, Jr.) took fourth place. Windsor (Doug McNair) finished fifth, earning a spot in the Breeders Crown Final.
“I think he can go with them,” coach Andrew Harris said. “I give credit to Beau Jangles and Frantic Hanover and some of those other horses. I give them all respect. They’re all great horses. When it comes down to it, when you have a group that good, the trip is going to matter. And the best thing we have is Dexter (driver Dunn), as he’s going to put together a great trip.”
Harris added that Brandon Blvd was lazy early in his training.
“For the first few months he was quite lazy and didn’t really show any ambition,” Harris admitted. “Then I put him on a little speed trip around March, and he just went at me. I’ve been pretty high on him ever since, and I knew he had that kind of speed. But obviously you don’t expect him to be a 48-pacer. Those were big fractions that were ready for him. But he’s right there at the wire and he looks good crossing the wire, so he’s not quite out yet.”
“He’s actually blessed,” Harris continued. “Because we haven’t had to travel much with him. He’s spent all summer at the stables in Lexington, so he hasn’t had to do a lot of the work that these others have done. He’s had a really good campaign that way and going into his tenth start, he’s just as sharp now as he was in his first start.”
Brandon Blvd, bred by Crawford Farms, LLC of Syracuse, NY, was a $425,000 yearling purchase at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. He is the second foal out of the American Ideal mare Alexis Faith p, 3, 1:50.3f ($586,546) and is a half-brother to the 3-year-old filly Karma (by Tall Dark Stranger) p, 3, 1:50 ($142,565).
Trainer Ron Burke had three contenders in this division (Al Papi/Lindy Dragonwater/Melillo) and has two in the second division (Race 9) in Frantic Hanover and Ubrute.
Beau Jangles, the pride of the Ian Moore stable, kept his freshman record perfect, easily winning his $34,250 Breeders Crown elimination (race 9) in 1:49.1 with driver Bob McClure on the line Friday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
“He was pretty full of himself there tonight, and around the last corner I tried to judge him as best I could, and further down the track he just took off,” said winning driver Bob McClure. “Halfway through the stretch he does this, he sticks his ears up and looks for company a little bit, but he was riding strong, right through the wire. He was hard to pull up tonight, he was really full of himself tonight. It’s amazing, you know, the races he’s done, he just seems to be getting stronger.”
BEAU JANGLES REPEAT
The victory was the Livestock washing Colt’s 11th straight win in as many lifetimes started and increased his career earnings to $1,209,250 for owners Graham Grace Stables LLC of Virginia, Kiwi Stables LLC of Maryland and Bolton Stables of Florida.
“It’s been great so far, but this is the horse world, and as you know a lot of things can happen, but it’s so good so far,” trainer Ian Moore said. “It should be a decent race next week because I think Andrew Harris’ colt (Brandon Blvd) looked damn good tonight, in fact he set a track record here, so it will certainly be interesting. This field is certainly deeper than what we saw at the Metro. There are more American horses here and it should be interesting. We’re looking forward to it. And hopefully Bo is up to the challenge.”
Beau Jangles was sent off as the 1-5 favorite and took his usual spot as he left the gate, taking the lead ahead of McClure and taking the field by fractions of :26; :54.3; and 1:22.4. Ubrute (Yannick Gingras) was behind the leader for the entire half and turned for home. Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick) stopped first, followed by Show Me Your Ace (David Miller). However, despite their playing efforts, none could match the efforts of Beau Jangles, who easily pulled away from his rivals in the final stretch.
“He’s a great horse, a true professional, and I think anything you throw at him he’ll take,” McClure emphasized.
Show Me Your Ace came in second, followed by Ubrute and Frantic Hanover.
All of Beau Jangle’s victories have come in front-stepping style, with wins in the Ontario Sires Stakes, the $1 million Metro Stakes (in 1:49.1), to name a few. Born in Port Perry, ON, Beau Jangles was bred by Tara Hills Stud, Ltd. and is the first foal out of the Art Major mare Mrs Major Hill p, 3, 1:53f ($35,681). He was a $65,000 yearling at the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg.
Beau Jangle’s sire, Cattlewash, placed second in both his 2021 Breeders Crown Open Pace elimination and finals as a four-year-old. He won his Breeders Crown elimination in 2020 and placed third in the finals at age 3, after finishing third in his Breeders Crown 2-year-old elimination and finals in 2019.
By means of Kimberly Rinker in front of Woodbine Mohawk Park
#Brandon #Blvd #sets #Canadian #record #Breeders #Crown #elimination