He wasn't challenged in the first quarter, he wasn't challenged in the second quarter, and he wasn't challenged in the third quarter, so when the fourth quarter rolled around, Giles LS Hanover was unchallengeable.

A half-dozen trotters -- four which were in on a condition, two to be claimed -- were featured at Cal-Expo on Thursday, March 24 over a 'sloppy' track. Once Giles L S Hanover got started, he never looked back.

Prior to starting from Post 4, driver Lemoyne Svendsen knew Mother Nature had him guessing.

“With the way the weather was with the rain during the day, and the headwinds in the lane, I didn't know what was going to happen," stated Svendsen.

His thoughts quickly changed, however, when one of the main players, Aston Boko (driven by Rich Wojcio), broke just before the start from the pole. "That's when I decided to let my horse trot out of there."

Leading by almost three lengths throughout a very deliberate first-quarter of :32.4, Svendsen was shaking his head. "I was dumbfounded that I was there that easy and that far out in front."

Still alone on the lead through an easy :32.3 second quarter, Svendsen and Giles LS Hanover reached the half-mile juncture in 1:05.2. At that point Svendsen had some thoughts for his foes. "I knew they were going to have a hard time sprinting with him, so I said to myself, 'it looks like you guys are in trouble now.'"

Maintaining his fairly-open lead until Rompaway Brandon (Tim Maier) closed up the pocket at the same time, a first-over Berkshire (Steve Wiseman) was brushing nicely at the three-quarter mile station (1:35.3). Was Svendsen concerned at that point? "I wasn't worried at all because I hadn't even asked mine to trot yet."

With the field now in the stretch, Svendsen surely had to discourage his opponents as he never bothered to look back until the seven-eighths mile pole, all while never turning his whip. "Obviously the front half was a big factor, but this horse always digs in in the stretch as you can see from his :27.4 final quarter last week -- and that's what he was doing this week," Svendsen said. "He was awesome down the stretch and it was a buggy ride in the lane."

Owned by Marty Garey and Hank Wieseneck in partnership with trainer Bob Johnson, the six-year-old gelding won very easily by two lengths, in 2:04.3. Berkshire couldn't dent the winner while finishing in second, and Rompaway Brandon finished one and a quarter lengths further back, in third.

"He was perfect tonight, the race was a gift, and I loved it," said the meet's leading driver, who had four winners on the 10-race program.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 is at 6:00 p.m. (PDT).

On Saturday, Cal Expo will offer a reduced 15 per cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers, with the Late Pick-4 having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.

(Cal-Expo)