There was a palpable sense of anticipation last Friday (Oct. 21) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and this was even before the first night of 2022 Breeders Crown eliminations. Bulldog Hanover was in to qualify, and the attention of the harness racing world was once again focused directly on the world's fastest Standardbred.

He was the last horse out of the paddock in the final qualifier of the session. And just like when he was on the track the time before in Lexington, Ky. at The Red Mile, he was the centre of attention.

There were even a few extra eyes, like the 360-degree camera COSA TV equipped to the racebike of driver Dexter Dunn.

On Friday morning, people got what they came to see: a devastating performance from Bulldog Hanover, pacing in 1:51.2 under the tightest of grips from his regular pilot.

"He was awesome; I've never seen him look better," trainer and co-owner Jack Darling told Trot Insider. "He was flying at the wire and Dex couldn't get him pulled up...he went another full mile plus a half before he finally got him pulled up. He is an amazing horse.

"I was hoping to get a race for him. I was really hoping there would be [Breeders Crown] eliminations [last weekend]," admitted Darling. "I just wanted to get a race for him...I would have raced him in the open, too, but I guess it didn't fill.  So I just decided to qualify. I can train him as fast as you want to go, but he just likes the action, he likes to get behind the gate and race horses."

This qualifying mile was Bulldog Hanover's first appearance since his loss to Allywag Hanover on Oct. 9, a race that snapped an 11-race win streak that appeared to extend at will.

It's not fun to discuss the loss in Lexington, but it's not as though the horse wasn't amazing in defeat. Bulldog Hanover was cheered to the wire, and he was cheered after the wire by those in attendance as well. It just wasn't what most people had expected, or possibly hoped -- that would have been history, the kind of history those at the track witnessed when Niatross time-trialled there in 1980, for example.

This year, this time and for this horse, it wasn't meant to be.

For context, however, Bulldog Hanover paced in 1:46.1 in that loss to Allywag Hanover at The Red Mile on Oct. 9. That's his fourth mile THIS YEAR in 1:46.1 or faster. Prior to 2022 there were four horses in the entire history of harness racing with miles in 1:46.1 or faster -- and all of them: Cambest, Always B Miki, Lather Up and Shamballa (second to Always B Miki) -- did it exactly one time and one time only.

"It was a heartbreaker when he got beat," admitted Darling, "but I was actually a little nervous going into it because it was kind of my worst case scenario that we'd have to cut it, go all those big fractions and Allywag would sit in the two hole. Allywag's a great horse; that's no disgrace getting beat by him. But that was kind of unfortunate.

"Dexter and I had talked before the race. And I said 'you know, the trainer in me is worried about winning the race, but all those people are here to see him try for a new record.' So I said 'we have to go for it' and Dexter said he agreed," continued the conditioner. "When we left there was just nobody to leave, and we needed somebody to leave and do just a little bit of the work for him. When he was on top he put the pedal to the metal, paced to three quarters as fast as a horse can pace and then Allywag beat him home."

"He raced tremendous, I mean, any other horse living pacing fractions like that would have just caved in the stretch. Bulldog kept pacing to the wire, so I was still proud of his effort."

Darling also stated that while the red clay surface at The Red Mile was in fine form, it was in his mind "a little bit sticky" and not the lightning-fast surface conducive to world record speed.

"People have asked me if I didn't think he was as good as he's been that day. And I really don't know. He had a busy week. People were around his stall constantly...I still believe that if he would have sat into the two hole and somebody else would have cut fractions like that to three quarters, I think we'd be talking about a new world record."

Make no mistake: Darling was absolutely thrilled to allow fans and media every opportunity to get up close and personal with the top-ranked Standardbred on the planet.

"Fans just adore that horse. Everybody just wants to see him, they want to get their picture taken and want to touch him...the people that came to him, the looks on their faces and the smiles. I mean,  I've never seen anything like it in the horse business. It was a special week, no matter what.

"I'm a racing fanatic, and a horse like him is great for the business and I just like to do all I can to promote him."

Fans will have one more chance to see 26-time winner Bulldog Hanover race on Canadian soil this Saturday (Oct. 29) at Woodbine Mohawk Park — his final start north of the border before concluding his stakes season stateside. Darling didn't plan much in the way of training activity heading into the US$600,000 tilt, just what he referred to as a "nice, easy week" for the double millionaire that he co-owns with Milton, Ont.'s Brad Grant.

"He gets out in his paddock every morning for an hour, hour and a half. He loves that. And I'll blow him out [with a training trip] mid-week."

The last piece of the puzzle for Bulldog Hanover and his connections was revealed on Tuesday night at the Breeders Crown Dinner and Post Position Draw. Darling doesn't agree with the concept of a horse leaving from the trailing post in a race like the Breeders Crown. Luckily for him, that's not his concern on Saturday night landing in post six.

"Ten horses are enough, now we've got 11...it's going to be a wild race and it's going to be exciting.

"I was happy with the post; just being on the gate was big and he's got a good spot. Dexter can kind of see what's going on and work it out from there."

Bulldog Hanover is the 4-5 morning line favourite for the Breeders Crown Open Pace. Allywag Hanover is the 7-2 second choice, leaving from post three.

“But this isn’t a grudge match [with Allywag Hanover] at all," Darling told the Canadian Press. "Brett [Allywag Hanover’s trainer Brett Pelling] is a great trainer, Allywag is a great horse and there’s a lot of great horses in there. I treat Allywag Hanover definitely as the horse to beat.”

All four Breeders Crown finals for two-year-olds will be contested Friday at Mohawk. Racing begins at 7 p.m. (EDT) with the Crown fields going behind the gate in races six through nine. The finals for horses three and up are Saturday, also starting at 7 p.m.

To view the complete entries for this weekend's Breeders Crown finals, click one of the following links:

• Friday, Oct. 28 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
• Saturday, Oct. 29 — Entries / Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)