The popular Vivid Photo could have sewn up a Horse of the Year title for trainer, driver, and co-owner Roger Hammer with a victory on Saturday, but that wasn’t to be the case. Instead it was another powerhouse performance by Strong Yankee, a horse trainer Trond Smedshammer turned around following the Hambletonian. The son of Muscles Yankee, driven flawlessly by Brian Sears, had plenty in reserve and out-sprinted a valiant Vivid Photo in the stretch. Hammer left hard and appeared content to draft behind Strong Yankee once the former yielded the lead to the latter and the half-mile pole. That move may have played to Sears advantage because he calmly cooled the pace and turned it into a two-horse sprint.

The Crown 3-year-old colt trot clearly boosted the viability of Strong Yankee as a live Horse of the Year contender because balloters generally have preferred late-season heroics to early season dominance. For trainer Smedshammer, who last year lost the Horse of the Year title despite having won the Triple Crown with Windsong’s Legacy, a 2005 Horse of the Year title would be richly deserved. Many pundits thought that not racing in the Breeders Crown hurt Windsong’s Legacy’s chance to defeat Rainbow Blue for yearend honors. In Strong Yankee Smedshammer believes he has a better horse.

“Windsong’s Legacy was a gritty horse that wanted to go past other horses,” Smedshammer said this past Saturday. “I don’t think Windsong’s Legacy could have done what Strong Yankee did in Kentucky,” Smedshammer said, referring to his three-heat effort in the Kentucky Futurity.

Vivid Photo will not only battle for divisional honors, but could battle for both Trotter of the Year and Horse of the Year votes. A downside to any trotter earning the Horse of the Year title in 2005 is the fact that with three strong contenders vying for leading trotter, there may not be enough Horse of the Year votes for any single one. If you throw Mr Muscleman, and for that matter Peaceful Way, into the running for Trotter of the Year, the Horse of the Year potential gets splintered even further. That’s because in balloting for Horse of the Year, a voter can only choose between the horse he or she chooses for Pacer or Trotter of the Year.

In capturing the 3-year-old colt Breeders Crown pace final this past Saturday, Rocknroll Hanover could have been the biggest winner of the night -- for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the son of Western Ideal should have locked up the Pacer of the Year title. His victories in the two $1 million pacing races, the Meadowlands Pace and North America Cup, followed by a Breeders Crown victory, solidify his claim on all fronts. His rival, American Ideal, stole the headlines from Rocknroll Hanover in Kentucky, where he became the fastest 3-year-old pacer of all-time. “Rocknroll” defeated his rival in last week’s elimination and also finished well in front in the final this past weekend.

From a breeding standpoint, Rocknroll Hanover seems to have everything necessary to be a hit, yet the $9 million price tag put on him before the Meadowlands Pace, when Perretti Farms purchased a 10-percent interest, made many in the industry wonder whether the colt could actually be syndicated for anything near that amount. Those fears seemed more than real when Rocknroll Hanover didn’t sustain his dominance, and American Ideal emerged. The two sub-1:50 performances by Rocknroll Hanover in late November will certainly add to the horse’s stature. A Horse of the Year title now becomes an even stronger likelihood, especially if the 3-Year-Old Trotter of the Year and Trotter of the Year divisions are factored into the vote.

The once-beaten Jereme’s Jet proved last week’s Breeders’ Crown Elimination loss was in fact a fluke with a solid score in the 2-year-old colt pace. The Western Hanover-sired colt’s schedule was brief, and he made the most of it when he earned more than $1 million in his first year on the track. During the year he showed heart, speed, and determination. Driver Paul MacDonell has thought highly of his Tom Harmer-trained colt from the outset, and has been rewarded for his confidence.

Driver Ron Pierce, who piloted three Breeders Crown winners, was an upsetter on two occasions. The much-traveled Belovedangel was perhaps Pierce’s best steer. The Artsplace-sired filly seemed hopelessly boxed and shuffled on the final turn, but when the favorite and pacesetter, Restive Hanover, became leg weary Pierce was fortunate to sneak out and get behind cover on the final turn. He sharply angled his filly behind Cabrini Hanover and then out-sprinted that filly to the wire and won at odds of 13-1.

Is six starts enough to win a divisional title?

My Little Dragon won five stakes races as part of her six-for-six freshman year. The late-arriving daughter of Dragon Again, owned by Adam Victor & Son Stable, was without question the best among eight fillies in the Breeders Crown on Saturday, but would she have been as dominant against her rivals if she had been put through the same type of year? The runner-up, Darlins Delight, finished first or second in all 14 of her starts during the year, and she finished 2005 with nine wins -- and more frequent shipping miles than any of her rivals.

Are ten starts enough to win a divisional title?

That’s the question voters must ask in the 3-year-old trotting filly division. Blur earned more than $75,000 per start this year, but made only 10 trips to post. Trainer Trond Smedshammer won his third consecutive Crown in this division, and Blur won for the fifth time in only ten starts. The Kentucky Futurity Filly winner, Her Culese, won nine times this year, and the Breeders Crown runner-up, Flawless Bluestone, was once again on the short end of the stick in a major contest. The Donerail-sired lass could have reversed roles with the winner, had she either gotten out sooner in the stretch, or had she elected to park-out Blur with more intensity as they raced to the half-mile pole.

Cabrini Hanover’s bankroll and number of major victories will likely prove to be the deciding factor in her capturing a divisional title. Though she was upset on Saturday, she has won half of her 16 starts and has finished on the board in all of them.

And if there was one thing all harness fans could give thanks for this past Thanksgiving weekend it that both the Hambletonian winner, Vivid Photo, and his conqueror, Strong Yankee, are expected to return to race next year as 4-year-olds. Smedshammer sees a big future for his colt after a breakout second half of the year. For Roger Hammer, it is hard to believe there’s a separation of 30 years since his family enjoyed this type of trotting power with the full brother speedballs In Command and In Control.