Yannick Gingras, the top money-earning driver in the U.S. in four of the last five years, put his talent on display for the whole world to see last month. 

Gingras finished second in the World Driving Championships that spanned five racetracks across Sweden. He had three wins, three second and three thirds in 24 races to out-score all but one of 12 drivers in the competition. 

Rick Ebbinge of the Netherlands accumulated 199.3 points and held a big enough lead to prevail when Gingras (193.5) won the last race. Gingras, trying to become the first U.S. representative to win since Dave Magee in 1995, settled for second, ahead of Sweden’s Ulf Ohlsson (191.5) for that spot. 

“It was a blast,” Gingras told Ken Weingartner of the U.S. Trotting Association. “I couldn’t win (the championship) going into the last race, so finishing second was actually a home run for me. Of course, I’m a little disappointed because you start looking back at the competition and you wonder what might have happened if you’d done things differently in some of the races. On the other hand, I won with longshots that maybe other drivers are thinking the same thing too; that if they had done something different, they could have beat me.” 

BREEDERS CROWN TICKETS ON SALE 

Tickets for the $6 million Breeders’ Crown Oct. 25-26 at Woodbine-Mohawk Park are now on sale. Visit the track’s website for more info. 

Fans got a sneak preview of some serious contenders in last weekend’s Graduate stakes series. Atlanta, the 2018 Hambletonian winner, romped in the Graduate for 4-year-old trotters and Lather Up held off a fast-charging Thinkbig Dreambig in the Graduate for 4-year-old pacers. Atlanta moved into second in the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll and Lather Up moved into the Top 10. Shartin N held the No. 1 spot. 

Entries for C$1 million Pepsi North America Cup, scheduled June 15 at Woodbine-Mohawk Park, closed with 18 entries. The 3-year-olds, in alphabetical order, are: 
Aflame Hanover (trainer: Linda Schadel), Air Force Hanover (Brian Brown), Best In Show (Linda Toscano), Bettor’s Wish (Chris Ryder), Bronx Seelster (Wayne McGean), 
Captain Crunch (Nancy Johansson), Captain Victorious (Ron Burke), Caviart Rockland ( Nancy Johansson), Century Farroh (Dr. Ian Moore), De Los Cielos Deo (Ron Burke), Fixed Idea (Todd Clements), Hurrikane Emperor (John McDermott), Lyons Night Hawk (Gareth Dowse), Semi Tough (Ron Burke), Shake That House (Chris Oakes), Stag Party (Casie Coleman), Tyga Hanover (Ben Baillargeon) and Workin Ona Mystery (Brian Brown).