For Ervin Hanover, this might be the most wonderful time of the year.
Last season, the David Menary-trained pacing stallion produced his best performances during the second half of his campaign, posting eight wins and a second in his final 10 starts on his way to Dan Patch and O’Brien divisional awards.
His triumphs included a 1:47.2 victory in the $347,222 Dayton Pacing Derby – the fastest mile ever at Hollywood Dayton Raceway – and a 1:46.2 score in the $822,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace on a five-degree late October night at Woodbine Mohawk Park that made him the fastest pacer ever on Canadian soil.
The previous year, Ervin Hanover closed his campaign with four consecutive wins from November into December, including a 1:47.3 victory at Mohawk that was the season’s fastest mile in Canada by a pacing stallion.
And now this season, the six-year-old son of Captaintreacherous-Eloquent Grace will attempt to turn back-to-back September victories into a three-race win streak when he returns to Dayton on Saturday, Oct. 3 for the Dayton Pacing Derby. With a victory, he would become the first repeat winner of the race, which debuted in 2014.
“He really seems to thrive in the cooler weather,” said Menary, who trains Ervin Hanover for owner Pollack Racing of Venetia, Pennsylvania. “Last year, he really didn’t get rolling until the Canadian Pacing Derby [in late August] and he ended the year with a bang. It would be really nice to replicate that. He’s had some peaks and valleys so far this year, but I’m really happy with him right now. He’s been super his last two starts.
“Maybe it didn’t get cold enough soon enough. I’m hoping we haven’t seen the best from him yet.”
Ervin Hanover has six wins and a third-place finish in nine starts this year, with $280,528 in earnings. His top victory so far was in the $240,143 Dave Brower Memorial (Grade 3) in a track record 1:46.3 at The Meadowlands on July 4. For his career, he has 32 wins in 84 races and $1.96 million in purses.
“He’s so fast and he can carry it a long way,” said Menary, who began training Ervin Hanover as a four-year-old in 2024, following Tom Pollack acquiring the horse in December 2023. “The first time I ever trained him, I thought he was the best horse I’d been sent in 10 years. He seemed like my style of horse.
“I’ve had a lot of good horses, but he’s just goes so fast so easily. He’s great on the track, he’s great in the barn. He’s not a mean stud, but he’s electric. He’s on fire all day, every day.”
On Saturday, Ervin Hanover and driver Dexter Dunn will leave from post seven in a field of nine in the $250,000 USD Dayton Pacing Derby (Grade 1). He is 6-1 on the morning line, the fourth choice behind Prince Hal Hanover (driver Todd McCarthy, post two, 2-1 morning line odds), Best Chip (Joe Bongiorno, post nine, 3-1) and Ken Hanover (Tim Tetrick, post one, 9-2).
Best Chip and Ken Hanover both have won consecutive graded stakes, with Best Chip taking the Canadian Pacing Derby (Grade 1) and Aria Invitational (Grade 2) and Ken Hanover taking the Hoosier Park Pacing Derby and Jim Ewart Memorial (both Grade 2 events). Prince Hal Hanover, who on Saturday will leave from inside post six for the first time in six races, has not missed the board in any of his 15 starts this season, including a win in his Canadian Pacing Derby elimination and second-place finishes in the Canadian Pacing Derby final, Dan Patch Stakes (Grade 1) and a division of the Sam McKee Memorial (Grade 2) in his past five outings.
“Hopefully, we can defend our title,” said Menary. “It’s a tough field. Best Chip has been on a big tear lately. He’s outside of us, so there’s going to be action from the outside. Two of the other favourites drew one and two; Ken Hanover has got the rail and he’s in really good form. [Trainer] Ian Moore’s horse, Prince Hal, is coming back in seven days instead of being off three weeks. He’s raced hard the whole year and I’m sure he’s going to keep racing hard.
“And there are a lot of good horses in the middle; I’m sure somebody is going to take their shot too. Every horse in the race is a good horse, so it’s going to be action packed.”
The Dayton Pacing Derby is one of four $250,000 USD graded stakes on Saturday’s card at Dayton, along with Dayton Trotting Derby (Grade 2), Dayton Distaff Derby (Grade 1) and Dayton Oaks Derby (Grade 1).
Super Chapter, the sport’s No. 1-ranked horses in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, is the even-money morning line favourite in the Dayton Trotting Derby. The four-year-old son of Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit enters with four consecutive wins, including in the $1,388,889 MGM Yonkers International Trot, $620,000 Maple Leaf Trot and $390,556 John Cashman Memorial (all Grade 1 events).
The Dayton Trotting Derby field also includes No. 3-ranked On To Norway, who won the $281,690 Caesars Trotting Classic (Grade 2) last week; Emoticon Legacy, who won the $347,222 Charlie Hill Memorial (Grade 2) over On To Norway on Sept. 12; and defending champion Lexus Kody.
Super Chapter will leave from post four with driver Dexter Dunn while On To Norway (5-2) goes from post one with John DeLong and Emoticon Legacy (9-2) from post three with Scott Zeron. Lexus Kody (6-1) starting from post two with Ronnie Wrenn Jr.
The 5-2 morning line choice in the Dayton Oaks Derby is Warrawee Michelle, who won the Miss Versatility Series final (Grade 3) last week at the Delaware County Fair in Ohio. She will leave from post five with trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt.
In the Dayton Distaff Derby, two-time defending champ Twin B Joe Fresh is the 2-1 morning line favourite and will leave from post six with Dunn in the sulky.
Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. at Dayton Raceway and the graded stakes are races 10 through 13. For Saturday’s free program, which also includes eight Buckeye Stallion Series championships, click here.
(USTA)