Hanover Stakes action for two-year-old trotters of both sexes shared top billing at Balmoral Park on Wednesday, October 28, as a pair of events for diagonally-gaited youngsters was contested. As is often the case with these precocious juveniles, it can wind up being an 'anything goes' scenario in these races, and that was definitely the case on Wednesday, as both winners lit up the board at huge prices.
A field of nine fillies was sent postward for a purse of $52,500 in the first battle of the night, and when the smoke cleared it was 33-1 longshot Meghans Halfmoon who emerged with a surprising neck victory in a career best 2:00.
Taking advantage of an inside starting spot, driver Mike Oosting positioned the daughter of Valley Victor--Meghans Memories in third as Yansky (driven by John Duke Sugg) sped to the front from Post 9 and led the field through opening splits of :29.3 and :59.4.
“She felt good behind the gate so I figured I’d try to maintain our good early spot,” explained Oosting. “Once some of those other favourites in the race decided to take back, I was absolutely thrilled where we landed.”
Under no pressure through the opening half, Yansky continued to show the way around the far turn, as the 4-5 favourite, Southern Maebelle (Tyler Buter), toiled along in seventh looking for cover.
That gave Oosting a chance to maneuver his charge off the pylons, and he had Meghan’s Halfmoon trotting up first over into second as Yansky rolled by the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:30.1.
“I actually pulled a little earlier than I was hoping to, but she really felt good and I knew the big guns in the race were starting to make their moves on the outside,” said the veteran reinsman. “Once we moved to the outside, she picked it right up and went right after the leader without much urging.”
Through the lane, a game Yansky continued to cling to the lead while a determined Meghans Halfmoon tried to get by her. After tipping three-wide as the field turned for home, Southern Maebelle had finally found her best stride and was taking dead aim on the top pair as they moved through the lane.
With the three spread across the track for the final sixteenth of a mile, Meghans Halfmoon finally managed to stick a head in front in the closing strides to pull off the upset. Southern Maebelle was forced to settle for the bridesmaid role, while Yansky was a solid third in the three-horse photo.
Coming into Wednesday’s Hanover Stakes event, the Steve Carter-trained miss had just one win and $13,000 in earnings through her first 15 lifetime starts for the partnership of Chuck Grubbs, Robert Reid and Carter -- starts which could explain why she wound up returning $68.00, $14.40 and $7.40 to those lucky enough to back her.
With a purse of $60,000 on the line in the colt test, driver Josh Sutton used the inside starting spot to perfection, as he put Jerry Graham, JD Graham and Thomas Graham’s Powerful Speed right on the engine. The gelding wound up making every call a winning one in a lifetime best mile clocked in 1:57.2.
Living up to his name, Powerful Speed hustled away as soon as the wings of the starting gate folded. The rest of the field was forced to settle into post position order as it trotted through an opening quarter in :29.2.
“My horse can be a little funny in the mouth and he shows nothing but speed so I was hoping the rest of the field would respect that and we wouldn’t get hooked up early,” said Sutton. “I was pretty happy when it wound up working out exactly the way I had hoped.”
Cruising through middle splits of :59.2 and 1:28.1, the Tom Graham, Jr.-trained gelding appeared comfortable despite getting pressure from a first-over Jailhouse Scorpion (Mike Oosting) as the field moved around the final turn.
“He had been sick in a couple of his previous starts but tonight he was 100% and he had a pretty good hold of me, so I was content to just let that other horse trot alongside of us,” explained Sutton. “He was giving me every indication that he still had plenty left in the tank tonight.”
Quickly dispatching the 7-5 favourite in the lane, Powerful Speed sprinted away to a three and a half-length advantage. With Sutton sitting chilly in the bike the son of Powerful Emotion--Balto Slavic rolled under the wire with a one and three-quarter-length decision. Hokey Pokey (Dave Magee) came on late to finish second, while Trot To Victory (Robert Taylor) rallied for third.
With the win, Powerful Speed now boasts a record of 5-3-2 in 18 starts this year with almost $74,000 in earnings. Despite having the inside starting spot, the Illinois-bred gelding returned a healthy $48.20, $13.00 and $4.60 to his backers.
(Balmoral Park)