Coach Stefanos was last and fifth-over with a quarter of a mile to go, but a 25 3/5 final kicker propelled him to a 1:48 3/5 triumph at odds of 13-1 in the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace final on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.
As expected, there was plenty of action off the gate as It's My Show (Scott Zeron) led early, but Andy Miller squeezed off the pylons with Ruthless Hanover on the first turn and worked his way around It's My Show for the top spot past a fast quarter of 26 seconds. All that action to the inside left Abuckabett Hanover (Dexter Dunn) parked after showing speed from post eight, but he drove on and Miller was willing to yield before the 53 2/5 half-mile marker.
Once the half went on the board, defending champion Bythemissal (Yannick Gingras) was sent first-over from the fourth position, and that gave cover trips to Seven Colors (Jason Bartlett), Voukefalas (Jordan Stratton), South Beach Star (David Miller) and Coach Stefanos (James MacDonald). Bythemissal made some headway on the rim on the final bend, but he stalled in second as Abuckabett Hanover raced through three-quarters in 1:21 1/5.
In the stretch there were several horses in with chances, and with an eighth to go, it looked like it might be 85-1 shot Seven Colors with the best shot as he struck the front off the cover trip. Coach Stefanos was airborne on the far outside, though, and he had enough time to track down Seven Colors and get by him for the tally by half a length. El Rey (Todd McCarthy), a 150-1 shot, had pace in traffic after angling off the inside in the lane, and wound up third from Ruthless Hanover and Bythemissal had to settle for fifth.
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"I was having a little conversation with myself in my head there. I just said 'don't panic, I know you're in a bad spot, but this horse gets home like a freight train and they're going to come back to you,'" MacDonald remarked after the win. "I said to (winning trainer) Erv Miller when I came off the track, 'I know you were looking for fifth-over and tenth on the outside on the last turn weren't you?' He kind of chuckled. That's the kind of horse he is. Some days it's going to work out for him. Luckily tonight was his night. On other days he might let some bettors down as the favorite, but tonight, just a big-time finishing kick. Nothing's better than tenth to first in any race, let alone the Breeders Crown.
"When we came off the turn, I just kind of rode out with the flow and came off Dave's back. He just jumped forward, and then I said 'oh, maybe.' They started to kind of come back to him. Sometimes those closers, when they start to go by a couple of them, they get rolling and they get the wheels moving. Halfway down the lane, I kicked the plugs and he gave me another little surge. Then it was pushing him to the wire and praying he got there."
A 4-year-old Tellitlikeitis gelding bred in Indiana by Victory Hill Farm, Coach Stefanos is trained by Miller for owners Kenneth Duffy, D & M Trading II LLC. and John Stefanos. Coach Stefanos won for the 18th time in his 47th try, has earned $1,265,206 and paid $29.60 to win.
"He raced really good last week, that helped," Miller said. "He'd raced good the start before in Indiana, a big mile, and scoped good. The horse seemed good and healthy, so I thought we had a pretty good shot coming in last week. You never know, when he's one of those closers, things have to go your way in the race.
"I was smiling (at the 53 2/5 half), but when you're still sitting last around the last turn, it's pretty tough."