Abbey Road Hanover, with Kevin Wallis handling her lines, set a new track record for four-year-old pacing mares Monday evening at Pompano Park when she gamely held on to win the Open Pace for distaffers in a startling 1:51.3.
Odds On Aventure surged to the early lead for Jason Dillander, but Wallis had Abbey Road Hanover out and driving just past the :27.1 opening panel. She cleared to the front and proceeded to lead the field to the mid-way point in :54.4. Abbey Road Hanover was pressed in the third quarter by Carolines Cullen N and they raced together to the three-quarter pole in 1:23.2.
Turning for home, Abbey Road Hanover put away Carolines Cullen N, but her task was far from over as a pesky Odds On Aventure found late room. She left the pocket and surged towards the leader, only to fall a scant head short at the wire. Gold Star Gidget was third.
Trainer Edgar Clarke said that Abbey Road Hanover had only a 2:20 training mile under her belt this week coming into the “Monday Night Fight,” but driver Wallis knew that the mare came “ready to race.”
“She’s the kind of a mare that tells you what she wants, not the other way around,” said driver Kevin Wallis. “So, right after the quarter, she ‘told’ me that it was time to get down to business and, when any horse feels that good, it’s best to let them go, instead of trying to grab a hold. So, I let her do what she wanted. She was something else tonight.”
The track record performance eclipsed the former mark for four-year-old mares of 1:52.2.
Owned by Robert Orr and Garry Jonas, the four-year-old daughter of Rocknroll Hanover-Allamerican Coed won for the third time in six 2013 starts to send her lifetime bounty to $118,795.
(Pompano Park)