After setting a 1:46.2 Canadian record in his most recent appearance, the morning qualifying performance from Ervin Hanover on Friday, Nov. 7 seemed akin to a proverbial walk in the park. More specifically, a walk in the Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Conditions were not conducive to speed on Friday morning, with overcast skies and temperatures just above the freezing mark. But Ervin Hanover thrives in cooler weather, as the harness racing world witnessed last year.

With driver Louis-Philippe Roy back in the bike, Ervin Hanover sat the pocket behind returning stablemate Brue Hanover (J. R. Plante) through a :30.3 opening quarter and then looped to the lead down the backside. After a 1:00.3 half, Ervin Hanover hit the afterburners and sped away from his rivals through an ultra-impressive :52.4 back half. Widening his advantage over Brue Hanover with every stride down the stretch, Ervin Hanover paced home in a sizzling :25.2 to trip the timer in 1:53.2 — seven seconds slower than his most recent Mohawk appearance, but four seconds faster than his closest competitor as the win margin was charted at more than 20 lengths.

The top ranked older pacing male in harness racing this year, five-year-old Ervin Hanover (Captaintreacherous - Eloquent Grace) sports 10 wins from 16 starts this season and 26 in his 74-start career. Owned by Pennsylvania's Pollack Racing LLC, Ervin Hanover is trained by Dave Menary, who indicated before the Breeders Crown that next Saturday's FanDuel Open Pace at The Meadowlands was still on the speedster's seasonal agenda.

The full video stream is available below. 

For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).

(Standardbred Canada)