Prince Hal Hanover and Bourbon County prepped successfully for next Saturday's Pepsi North America Cup eliminations with victories in a pair of Grade 3 Somebeachsomewhere Stakes divisions for 3-year-old male pacers on Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Driven by Doug McNair in the first C$80,500 split, Prince Hal Hanover worked his way around Ayeaye Captain Deo (Bob McClure) before the 26 3/5 quarter and maintained the top spot through a 54 4/5 half and a 1:22 three-quarters. Ayeaye Captain Deo came off the pylons before three-quarters and battled with Prince Hal Hanover all the way down the lane, but Prince Hal Hanover held on gamely to win by a neck in 1:49 4/5. Madden Oaks (Matt Kakaley) closed in 26 2/5 from last to get up for third.
"He was a real pleasure to drive. He's just a got a great big, long stride on him. He's a great-gaited horse," said McNair, who subbed for David Miller as travel issues took both him and Dexter Dunn off their scheduled drives. "We drew the outside of the gate, so we can't get away seventh. I was going to float him, and then last minute, once I see Bob was kind of crossing over, I pushed on through there and he did the rest. He's a pretty handy horse. Maybe he went by me for a second or two, but our horse, he battled strong."
Dr. Ian Moore trains Prince Hal Hanover, a Captaintreacherous colt bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, for owner Prince Hal Hanover Stable. He has a summary of 4-4-2 from 13 outings, has pocketed C$465,275 and paid $5.50 to win as the second choice.
"He's really matured and he grew tall and filled out quite a bit," Dr. Moore noted about last year's Metro Pace runner-up. "He was just an average colt last year, especially early in the year, and then he got better as the year went along. His structure has changed quite a bit, like when I'm hooking him up on one side, I can't see the person on the other side now. We've had a lot of horses by stallions we used to race, and this is the first one we've had out of a mare that we used to race, Percy Bluechip. That's a real thrill for us.
"He's had three starts now, and all of three of them he drew the outside, so all three of them he had to race off the front. I think he's much better coming from behind because he'll follow all day, and when you take him out, he has a really quick brush to try to get to the front. It's a shame it's ended up that way, but we'll take it. So far so good, and we're obviously pointing him for next weeke. Hopefully he recovers from this one well and ready to go next Saturday."
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In the other C$81,500 grouping, Papis Pistol (Andy Miller) cut out fractions of 27 1/5, 55 4/5 and 1:23 2/5, but favored Lite Up The World (James MacDonald) made steady progress after he went first-over out of fifth before the half and was side-by-side with the tempo-setter at three-quarters. Meanwhile, Bourbon County (Trevor Henry) had been able to slide out into a second-over position on the last turn when Aquinas Hanover (McClure) gapped cover and was poised for the stretch drive.
Papis Pistol and Lite Up The World continued their battle into the lane, but Henry fanned Bourbon County to their outside, and behind a 26 2/5 final kicker, Bourbon County went by both of them to win by half a length in 1:50 1/5. Lite Up The World had to settle for second and Courts On Fire (McNair), who was boxed in behind Papis Pistol for a long portion of the stretch drive, found room on the inside and got up for third.
"I train at Spring Garden Ranch with Steve Elliott and I saw him train. Steve mentioned that if he came back good that he'd be sending him up, and he sent him up in great shape," relayed winning trainer Paul Reid. "He said he liked him the most out of what he had. Steve's had some nice horses in his day, so I'll take his word for it.
"He definitely needed that start off the qualifiers (a gaining fourth in an overnight at Woodbine Mohawk Park last Saturday). Qualifying's nice, but you've got to get in the real world and race. To see him race covered up like that and finish strong, I was real happy with that."
Elliott co-owns Bourbon County, an Always B Miki colt who swept his legs and the final of the Kentucky Sire Stakes at Cumberland Run last fall, with partners William Salmeri, Rick Berks and Jerry Glantz. He made his seventh trip to the winner's circle in his 15th start, he has put away C$197,413 and he returned $12.00 to win.