The Somebeachsomewhere filly Fire Start Hanover brushed to a contested lead up the backside and maintained control through the lane to hold off a two-pronged charge and win the $600,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace on Friday (Oct. 30) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

Scarlett Hanover sprinted to the front while JK Alwaysbalady ducked into the pocket and Fire Start Hanover settled into third. JK Alwaysbalady pounced from the pocket by a :26.4 quarter to seize command into the backside, but soon faced pressure as driver Dexter Dunn dashed Fire Start Hanover for the lead heading to a :55.3 half.

Fire Start Hanover took over the lead into the final turn as Somethingbeautiful progressed first over with Caviart Audrey in tow to three-quarters in 1:23.3. However Somethingbeautiful tired and then broke stride straightening for the finish, giving room for JK Alwaysbalady and Scarlett Hanover to swing wide for the drive. Fire Start Hanover fought on a diminishing lead nearing the finish, holding a head in front of JK Alwaysbalady in a 1:50.4 mile with Scarlett Hanover third and Continualou rallying up the open stretch for fourth.

“We looked at the race on paper—there were about five I thought could leave out of there pretty hard so it was one of those races where you had to see what was happening out of the gate,” Dunn said after the race. “Really only a couple came out hard, so from the seven hole we pushed out and got into a pretty good hole around the first turn. She was much sharper this week than she was last week. I could feel [Yannick Gingras and JK Alwaysbalady] coming around there. She was getting a little tired at the end but it was a great run.”

Winning her seventh race from 11 starts, Fire Start Hanover has earned $517,586 for owners Pinske Stables, David Hoese and Lawrence Means. Richard “Nifty” Norman trains the Hanover Shoe Farms-bred filly.

“It’s a fantastic evening, it’s a race you want to win all year—one you circle on the calendar... it’s great to be here,” Richard “Nifty” Norman said after the race. “I have a lot of confidence in this filly. She raced good last week, had been a little sick prior to that so [I] thought she’d be better.”

Off at odds of 3-1, Fire Start Hanover returned $8.20 to win.