Melillo and Little Road can race into spotlight at Breeders Crown
Melillo has been unappreciated and unheralded this season.
He grinded through almost all the big races for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers and was consistently a top-3 finisher.
Now, Melillo has a chance to bag the biggest race of the season and his career Saturday night in the Grade 1 $664,500 Breeders Crown at Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio.
Unnoticed no longer, Melillo won the second division of the 3-year-old colts and gelding pacers and placed himself among the favorites in the final.
“I think he’s starting to get the recognition,” Hall of Fame trainer Ron Burke said. “To me, if he wins the Breeders Crown, he’s the 3-year-old pacer of the year.”
Before the Breeders Crown division races Saturday, Burke’s perspicacity moved him to declare that 3-year-old pacer of the year honors would depend on winning the prestigious race.
Melillo is owned by the Burke Racing Stable, Fredericktown, Melillo, Powell, OH; Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Canonsburg and bred by the same.
He will leave from the No. 2 post in the race, which also features Gentleman’s Club, who has the rail and won the first division Saturday. From post 3 and out the pacers include Funky Buddha, Brandon Boulevard, Melillo’s stablemate Al Papi, Sweet Lovin Lou, Odds on Mr. Mamba, Fragment and Cooperstown Boy.
Brandon Bulevard, who Melillo bested in the division race, will likely be the favorite.
Burke said he likes the chances of Melillo and Al Papi, this year’s Adios champion.
More ballyhooed 3-year-old pacers Beau Jangles and Redland Rocket Man failed to qualify out of the first division.
“You can see the gap between the horses is not that great, between one through seven or eight. It’s just not. I think both have progressed and gotten better as the year has gone on.
“The idea is that the big money is at the end of the year and you don’t want them raced out. I’m happy with both.”
In 2026, Melillo has won five times in 18 starts, been second six times and third three times. He’s finished in the top three 77.8 percent of the time and in his career, he has finished in the top three 26 times out of 32 races (81.3 percent).
Hammer time?
Make no mistake, owner-trainer Roger Hammer knows Little Road might be his last best chance to win a Breeders Crown.
The 80-year-old Hammer knows the 3-year-old filly trotter will compete for $664,500. But this is about legacy and the thrill of claiming a prestigious Breeders Crown championship.
Hammer supplemented Little Road into the Breeders Crown for $72,000.
Hammer is perhaps best known nationally for his training and driving win in the Hambletonian behind Vivid Photo more than 20 years ago. He has long been a force not only on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit and in the Mid-Atlantic region. He races regularly at The Meadows.
Hammer also wants driver Brady Brown to win the most significant race of his budding career.
“You never know in a horse race,” Hammer said. “A horse might tie up on you or something. She’s tough.
Brady did a good job Saturday. He was nervous and I said, don’t worry. It worked out well. It was a great ending. “It’d be good for me to win this race this week. It’d be more special for me, because of Brady. He’s a good driver. He just needs to have stock. It’d be good for him to win the Breeders Crown and good for my filly because I have the brood mare.”
Little Road has won 16 races from 25 starts and earned $373,150 in her career.
She will compete against Storybook Love (Todd Ratchford, Matt Bax), Victorianas Secret (Wrenn Jr., Vernon Beachy), She’s Moni (Yannick Gingras, Nancy Takter), Nezuko Kamado S (Scott Zeron, Marcus Melander), Setyoursightshigh (Dexter Dunn, Marcus Melander), Custom (Jason Bartlett, Petter Engblom), Southwind Chaska (Dexter Dunn, Jim Oscarsson), Busy Miss Lissy S (Dunn, Ake Svanstedt).
Brown, a Meadows regular, will make his first Breeders Crown drive. The opportunity is not lost on the 33-year-old, who had 95 local driving wins this year, as of Monday, with more than $1.2 million in purse won.
“To win (the elimination) for Roger Hammer is something special,” Brown said. “I’ve told people that when he supplements horses into things like this, he’s not doing it just to be in it, he’s in it to make money or win.
“I don’t even think I slept (Friday night) before this race, to be honest, I was that excited about it. It’s still just mind-blowing to be in it. I probably won’t sleep at all Friday night. I don’t change the routine. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”