Lorne House and The Great Reset played catch-me-if-you-can with their rivals in the 2023 Dream Of Glory Trot on Saturday (Aug. 5) at Hanover Raceway. House's sophomore trotting colt liked that game. The rivals? Not so much.
One of three elimination winners from a week ago, but the slowest of those three elim winners by a considerable margin, The Great Reset was dismissed by the Hanover betting public sent off at post time odds of 18-1. The other elimination winners were viewed more favourably. Rail starter The Hazelton (Bob McClure) was sent off at 1-5 while the fastest elim winner from a week ago, New Rules (Austin Sorrie) was the 3-1 second choice.
House had one plan with The Great Reset on Saturday: make the lead, make four left turns and don't let anyone pass them. He hammered out a hot tempo, with The Great Reset pounding out panels of :27.2, :57 and 1:26.2 with New Rules pinned right on his helmet but the rest of the field well strung out behind. The Great Reset had a two-length margin turning for home, with New Rules and The Hazelton trying to make a sufficient dent in that lead but the wire was well in sight for The Great Reset. He was three parts of a length better than New Rules with The Hazelton more than a length back in third. The 1:57 performance was a new lifetime best for The Great Reset and just a fifth of a second off Hemi Seelster's stakes record.
"My guy's really handy; that's what his biggest strength is," House told Hanover's Nathan Bain after the win. "So I knew I could rock him off the gate pretty good. We got into the first turn and there was no other plan. There was no letting anybody go, and we got 'er done!"
House trains and co-owns The Great Reset (Resolve - Dont Talk Back) along with breeder Chantal Ruijs of Georgian Bluffs, Ont. The win was the colt's fourth lifetime to place his lifetime summary at 4-8-6 in 25 starts with $88,805 in the bank. As the fifth choice at 18-1, he paid a healthy $38.60 to win.
On the Dream Of Glory Trot undercard, Illgetmyown Thanks ($4.30) delivered as the public choice in the $10,000 Gail Murray Invitational Pace. Ryan Holliday engineered the winning effort, pocket riding behind GA Speed Sammy and then slingshotting past that pacesetter late for the 1:55.3 half-length decision. Dale Fritz trains and co-owns the seven-year-old son of Shadow Play - Talula Seelster along with Michael Sawyer of Walkerton, Edward Acheson of Proton Station and B W P Stable of Toronto, Ont.
To view the results from the Saturday night card of harness racing at Hanover, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hanover Raceway.