Nine years ago, Marcus Miller won his first ride in a Breeders Crown harness race final, capturing the race on a horse trained by his father, Erv, no less.
Miller will get a chance to win a second trophy, again alongside his father, when he rides Unreasonable in Saturday’s $600,000 (USD) Grade 1 Breeders Crown final for 3-year-old pacing fillies at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
A day earlier at Mohawk, driver Patrick Ryder will have the opportunity to duplicate Miller’s feat by winning his first Breeders Crown start on a horse trained by his father. Ryder will line up behind Bettor Be A Star, conditioned by his father Chris, in the $700,000 (USD) final for 2-year-old fillies.
Miller and Unreasonable, the 7-2 second choice on the morning line, start from post two. She finished a fast second behind Miki and Minnie in the only Breeders Crown elimination last weekend. Miki and Minnie, Saturday’s 6-5 favorite, won by a half-length in 1:48.2, tying the track record and the Canadian record for second-year female pacers.
She is a 2024 Dan Patch Award winner and is seeking her second Breeders Crown.
“Miki And Minnie is a great filly, and she’s obviously the one we need to beat,” Miller said. “But there’s no nonsense in that. My focus will be on trying to (unreasonably) get to a place where she can do her thing. She can absolutely rip home, and I know she’ll show up.”
Unreasonable has been on the board in all 13 races this season, winning seven and earning $457,114 for owners Ervin Miller Stable and David J. Miller. In her start prior to the elimination of Breeders Crown, the daughter of Huntsville-Roaring To Go won the Glen Garnsey Memorial (G3) at The Red Mile by half a length over Looksgoodinloulou in 1:47.4, the fastest mile of the season for a 2-year-old filly.
In the Garnsey, Unreasonable came away from post three in second in a field of twelve horses before multiple lead changes during a :53 mid-half shuffled her back to fifth on the pylons heading home. Miller found space on his outside and Unreason charged in :26.4 for the win.
“That was one of the wildest races I’ve ever seen, I think,” said Miller, who recently earned the 5,000th victory of his career. “I felt like I was sitting in thin air at the top of the stretch. I was able to wiggle out a little and she exploded. The way she rode past them, having made such a big shuffle after she left, perhaps impressed me more than any horse I’ve ridden before. It was unreal that she still had such explosive power.”
Unreasonable’s explosiveness was again on display in the elimination of Breeders Crown, where she drove home from fourth place in :25.1.
“She’s just a lot of fun to drive,” Miller said. “If you ask her to go, she steps on the gas hard. If you dream about them doing that during a race, she does that in real life.”
“(In the elimination) she was still digging hard, right through the wire. I think we’re in the best possible position going into the finals.”
Miller won his first Breeders Crown with the 2-year-old filly Someomensomewhere, by a nose over the hard-charging Agent Q, in 2016 at The Meadowlands.
“It’s still a thrill to think about, and it’s the race that people bring up every now and then,” Miller said. “I remember how close the finish line was. I was just trying to do everything I could do, and we touched the wire together. That was probably the longest photo wait of my life. It felt like an eternity.”
PATRICK RYDER READY FOR THE FIRST FINALE WITH BETTOR BE A STAR
On Friday at Woodbine Mohawk Park, driver Patrick Ryder will have the opportunity to duplicate Marcus Miller’s feat by winning his first Breeders Crown start on a horse trained by his father. Ryder will line up behind Bettor Be A Star, conditioned by his father Chris, in the $700,000 (USD) final for 2-year-old fillies.
“My wife and I had joked about riding in the Breeders Crown, but to be honest I never thought it would become a reality,” said Ryder, referring to Nadia Tarnawa, stakes manager for the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown. “It sounds cliché, but this is literally a dream come true. And to drive one for your dad is amazing. It’s just so special.”
Bettor Be A Star finished third last weekend in the single Breeders Crown elimination for freshman pacing fillies, which was won by Loua Dipa (the 1-5 morning line favorite in the final) in 1:49.3. Bettor Be A Star was eighth on the pylons after three-quarters of a mile, but rallied with a :27.1 final panel after Ryder found space to the outside. Only I’m A Lou Lou, which finished in second place, came home faster.
“It turned out even better than I could have ever imagined, finishing third with a lot of speed,” Ryder said. “I know this filly is a nice filly, and she has been around horses like that the last few weeks at the Grand Circuit races in Lexington, but since it was my first time riding in Mohawk and had never raced in the Breeders Crown before, I was very happy to finish third.”
Bettor Be A Star advanced to the Breeders Crown after consecutive third-place finishes at The Red Mile in divisions of the Bluegrass and International Stallion stakes, both Grade 3 events. This year, the daughter of Bettor’s Wish-It Can Happen has started in seven of nine races, winning two and earning $65,378 for owner Ryder Stable.
“I love the young horses,” says 30-year-old Ryder, who launched his driving career in 2021 and assists his father in the stable every morning. “It’s my favorite part of training, developing the young horses and seeing them go from not knowing what they’re doing to being professionals on the track. I like to think I’m doing a good job with the young horses. So for this to be a 2-year-old filly is really cool.”
Ryder was a little apprehensive about driving at Woodbine Mohawk Park last week, but some of his fellow drivers helped him get settled.
“I wasn’t that nervous about riding in the Breeders Crown, but more because I didn’t know the track,” Ryder said. “Dexter (Dunn) and Scott (Zeron) helped me a lot there. They made me feel a lot more comfortable. They really helped me feel at home. And the clerk up there, Chris, made me feel like I was just one of the other guys.”
Ryder is happy to have the first ever Mohawk ride to his credit and is looking forward to the second one on Friday. Gambler Be A Star, a long shot of 103-1 in the elimination, will start from post one, her same starting spot as last week, in the final.
“If you can keep her hidden, she’ll follow you all day and come home very well to you,” Ryder said. “She has such a quick foot movement. Some horses take a while to get going. She’s just so handy.”
As grateful as Ryder is for his first Breeders Crown opportunity, he is even more grateful for the support of those around him.
“My dad doesn’t say anything to me (about driving),” Ryder said. “He makes me feel confident and know that I know what to do. He understands that it’s very fluid out there.”
“And I absolutely couldn’t do it without all the support from my wife. She is so good about having a family and she sacrifices so much to help me succeed in driving. She is just amazing.”
For full race entries, click here.
Through Ken Weingartnerfor the USTA
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