Will Ivory be pure gold?

A year ago, Pure Ivory was the favorite in the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old filly trotters and Passionate Glide was an unheralded 6-1 shot. This season, the roles likely will be reversed when the two horses go behind the gate in Saturday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old filly trotters at Woodbine.

Passionate Glide has dominated her foes since winning last year’s Breeders Crown. She’s has won 13 of 14 races this season, including the Hambletonian Oaks, the Delvin Miller Memorial, the Moni Maker, and the Kentucky Filly Futurity. Pure Ivory, racing primarily on the Ontario Sire Stakes circuit, has won 11 of 17 races this year and earned more than $1 million lifetime. Both she and Passionate Glide were victorious on Oct. 21 in their respective elimination races for the Breeders Crown.

Trained by Brad Maxwell and driven by Steve Condren, Pure Ivory won in 1:53.4, missing the track record for 3-year-old fillies by one-fifth of a second. Pure Ivory took the lead in the stretch after Susie’s Magic opened an eight-length advantage with an opening quarter of :25.4 (equaling the track record) and :54.3 half.

"I knew we were busting out of there pretty good," Condren said. "I didn’t want to take a chance on getting into road trouble. I was just more concerned about being somewhere in the hunt, not too far out of it."

Last year, Pure Ivory entered the Breeders Crown final on a four-race win streak. She got a poor start in the final and dropped to seventh place at the three-quarter mark before rallying to finish third.

"She was good last year going into the Crown; just a little too rambunctious and lost a few lengths getting away from the gate, but still put in a great big effort," Condren said. "If she can give anywhere near that effort next week, I’m sure we’ll all be happy." (HRC)

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