Canadian-campaigned Sylvia Hanover and Logan Park threatened world records with speedy performances during a quartet of Allerage Farms Open events featured on the Kentucky Futurity Day undercard on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 6 at The Red Mile.
Sylvia Hanover took awhile to get rolling, but once driver Bob McClure put the reigning Horse of the Year in play, she stormed over the clay to register a track record 1:47.3 win in the $88,514 Allerage Farms Mare Pace, sponsored by Sugar Valley Farms.
McClure settled into fourth with Sylvia Hanover as Zanatta (Dexter Dunn) shot from post six to the lead into a :26.2 first quarter. Always B Naughty (Yannick Gingras) moved off the pylons from third to grab the lead into the backstretch while McClure took his time edging Sylvia Hanover off the pylons. Once on the outside, Sylvia Hanover lunged forward, collared Always B Naughty after a :53.4 half and steamrolled through the final turn to clock three-quarters in 1:21.1. Sylvia Hanover wandered off the cones in the straight but McClure raised the reins and kept his charge focused all through the lane to cross the line 2-3/4 lengths better than Always B Naughty. Beach Cowgirl (Todd McCarthy) took third off a third-over trip and Zanatta finished fourth.
The lifetime-best 1:47.3 mile by Sylvia Hanover bests the previous track record for four-year-old pacing mares of 1:48 set by Rocknificent back in 2021 and comes just three-fifths of a second short of Test Of Faith’s divisional world record set in 2022 at The Meadowlands.
“It’s a nice thing to have, that’s for sure,” Shawn Steacy, trainer of Sylvia Hanover along with father Mark Steacy, said of the track record in a race where Sylvia Hanover evaded her career-long rival Twin B Joe Fresh. “Twin B Joe Fresh is having a great year, but our mare is racing fantastic too. It’s just two great [mares] in one year, that’s all it is.”
A daughter of Always B Miki and Shyaway, Sylvia Hanover earned just her second win from 14 starts this season but is a seven-time runner-up including in recent Milton Stakes and Dayton Distaff Derby appearances. The double millionaire collected her 20th career victory from 36 starts for owner Hudson Standardbred Stable of Hudson, Que.
Sylvia Hanover paid $2.92 to win as the 2-5 favourite.
Logan Park lunged from last off a quick clip to snag a lifetime-best 1:49.2 win and become the fastest Canadian-sired trotter in the $206,757 Allerage Farms Trot, sponsored by Armitage Farms. His winning time was just three-fifths of a second off the all-age trotting world record. Dexter Dunn drove the Canadian-campaigned trotter for trainer Rob Fellows.
Hillexotic (Austin Hanners) burst through from the pylon post to take the lead and carve a :26.2 first quarter. Hanners attempted to grab a breather up the backside, but the tempo remained hot past a :54.2 half. Up Your Deo (Ake Svanstedt) pulled pocket rounding the final turn as 4-5 favoured Maple Leaf Trot champion Periculum (Scott Zeron) and Logan Park started winding their bids from the back. Up Your Deo dashed past Hillexotic after three-quarters in 1:22.3 but couldn’t stave the momentum of Periculum and Logan Park to the center of the track. Periculum took a brief lead in deep stretch until Logan Park overpowered him over the top and notched a half-length victory at the beam. Up Your Deo held third and Hillexotic settled for fourth.
Fellows trains Logan Park, a six-year-old gelding by Archangel out of Rite Outa The Park, for owners Outofthepark Stable of Rockwood, Ont., Reg Higgs of Ilderton, Ont., and Arpad Szabo of Bradford, Ont. Canada's reigning Older Trotter of the Year is now 10-for-15 this year and has won 34 of his 79 lifetime starts while banking nearly $1.76 million.
Coming off a victory in last weekend's Dayton Trotting Derby, Logan Park paid $4.44 to win.
Once reaching the lead, Bythemissal cruised and then withstood a furious rally from Abuckabett Hanover for a 1:47.2 win in the $214,865 Allerage Open Pace, sponsored by Jeff & Paula Gural.
Driver Yannick Gingras launched Bythemissal from the outermost post and reached the lead after a :26.2 first quarter to pocket Rocknroll Runa A (Todd McCarthy), who soon broke stride into the backstretch. Bythemissal rolled on a loose lead with Muskateer Hanover (Tony Hall) tightening from the pocket to a :53.4 half and stayed on cruise control through the final turn while favourite Little Rocket Man (David Miller) led the two-wide tier first over. Bythemissal clocked by three-quarters in 1:21.1 and accelerated for home as Abuckabett Hanover (Dexter Dunn) sprung from his second-over position after the leader. Abuckabett Hanover kept digging at Bythemissal through the final eighth but Bythemissal responded to urging and to the challenge to hold onto the win by a head. Muskateer Hanover gave chase in third.
“It’s been a tough year with him,” said trainer Ron Burke of Bythemissal, who won for the first time this season in his fifth start and was making his third start since a near three-month layoff. “Things went wrong that I never saw coming, but thank God the owners are all so good about it [saying], ‘Take your time.’ This horse is going to be here for the next three or four years, so we just took our time and hope to finish strong now.”
“I knew he was ready,” said Gingras. “Last time in Indiana [finishing third in the Harrah’s Hoosier Park Pacing Derby], I thought he raced tremendously. We talked about it [Ronnie and I] – we were going to race him hard; he needs the miles anyway. Leaving the gate, I was looking at David [Miller] and Dex [Dunn] and they were both taking off, so I just marched to the lead and he did the rest.”
Bythemissal, a five-year-old gelding by Downbytheseaside out of Dismissal, picked up his 26th career win from 38 starts and added to a bankroll now worth more than $2.4 million for U.S. owners Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Rich Lombardo Racing and Weaver Bruscemi. He paid $7.08 to win.
Call Me Goo and trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt forged forward through the final turn and withstood a late charge from rebounding stablemate Nelsonbriteagle NO to win in 1:51.4 in the $93,919 Allerage Farms Mare Trot, sponsored by Wiesman Farms.
With 1-2 favoured Miss Versatility Series champion Nelsonbriteagle NO (Dexter Dunn) breaking stride at the gate’s unfolding, Pioneer As (Tony Hall) pushed to the lead with Baroness Hill (Todd McCarthy) settling for the pocket and Call Me Goo landing in third. Pioneer As cut a :27.2 first quarter and soon obliged for a pocket ride when Baroness Hill circled to the lead before a :56 half. Svanstedt sent Call Me Goo out on the rim moving for the final turn and marched forward to collar Baroness Hill after three-quarters in 1:24.3. Call Me Goo led the charge for home and kept her four rivals at bay to hold a neck win over Nelsonbriteagle NO, who recouped 17 lengths to rally for second. Baroness Hill finished third and Pioneer As took fourth.
A four-year-old by Googoo Gaagaa out of Callmemza, Call Me Goo has now won 22 races from 35 starts and just shy of $800,000. Svanstedt trains the mare for his Ake Svanstedt Inc. and Graham Grace Stables of Clifton, Virginia.
Call Me Goo, who has won half of her 12 seasonal starts including the Armbro Flight Stakes this summer, paid $4.34 to win.
(With files from The Red Mile; Photos, clockwise from top left, of Logan Park, Sylvia Hanover, Bythemissal and Call Me Goo)