A large crowd will be gathered at the rail when Woodstock Hanover parades down the stretch Friday night at Meadowlands Racetrack

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After a strong showing in the Clyde Hirt Series, the four-year-old gelding will tackle the competition in the opening round of the Exit 16W Series. Woodstock Hanover romped to easy victories in the first two legs of the Clyde Hirt Series and was a game third in the $90,000 final, beaten only one length by series champion Real Joke. He will escape that foe in his Exit 16W division, Race 12 on Friday night, and looms the one to beat as the 2-1 morning line favourite from Post 6.

“Every time Woodstock Hanover races he has this huge cheering section,” said his trainer, Adam Lambert. “That’s his co-owner Glenn Ellis. His family and friends have the time of their lives coming to the races and watching the horse. When the horse is scoring down they applaud and get right into it. It’s good for the game.

“About 20 years ago, Glenn was a waiter at the Meadowlands and it’s always been a dream of his to own a couple of horses,” Lambert continued. “He was also a school teacher and then got into car sales. He eventually bought a Mazda dealership near the track. [Co-owner] Kenneth Tucci actually went into the shop one day to buy a car, they got to talking and one thing led to another.”

Ellis of Weehawken, New Jersey and Tucci of Wood Ridge purchased Woodstock Hanover for $60,000 at the November 2009 mixed sale at Harrisburg. The son of Bettors Delight spent his three-year-old season in Noel Daley’s barn and finished his campaign with a lopsided record of one win, one second and seven thirds in 20 starts. He has already earned back half of what Ellis and Tucci paid for him in four starts this year.

“Now $60,000 seems like a reasonable number for him, doesn’t it?” Lambert asked. “He was super winning those two divisions of the Clyde Hirt, and I think he can give Real Joke a shake. We were first up twice and he was huge in the final.

“Kenneth Tucci obviously really followed him and liked him last year even though he was only 1 for 20,” he continued. “He drew outside posts a lot, and raced on half-mile tracks in New York Sires Stakes. He trains like a good one. He doesn’t need a lot of work. He trained [Wednesday] morning and seems very sharp. He’s nice and quiet, and doesn’t draw a lot of attention to himself. George Brennan suits this horse and has been driving fantastic. If we give him a lighter schedule, I think he can come back and be a nice five-year-old.”

Lambert, 32, has a 10-horse stable based at Winners International in Columbus, New Jersey. The Australian native moved to the United States 10 years ago and worked for Mark Kesmodel and Noel Daley before venturing out on his own.

“I’ve got a few three-year-olds and two-year-olds coming back,” he said. “I just sold Sharks Legacy at the January Sale for $100,000. I bought one two-year-old from Hanover Shoe Farms and he came back with EPM. They were very good about taking him back. I asked them if they had any other horses left over from the sales, and I ended up getting three from them. Two of them ended up being pretty promising, a Bettors Delight colt and a Western Hanover filly. I’ve also got Tireman coming back. He qualifies this week after a bit of a break. I claimed him for $50,000 at Yonkers.”

Montini Sits In The Sulky Friday

Trainer Tony Montini will be the guest on Meadowlands Racetrack’s Friday pre-card broadcast.

Fans can e-mail questions for him to answer to [email protected].

(Meadowlands)