Shake That House and driver Tim Tetrick pulled off a 9-1 upset defeating favourite Captain Crunch in the $335,000 Hap Hansen Progress Pace on Wednesday evening (Nov. 27) at Dover Downs.
Trained by Chris Oakes, Shake That House prevailed by a neck in the sophomore stakes event in 1:50.1 for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Alan Johnston and Northfork Racing Stable.
Captain Crunch (Yannick Gingras), the 3-5 favourite fresh off a 1:47.3 track record victory in last week's elimination, forged on to the front from the outside post eight, clearing the quick-leaving Oakes trainee American Mercury (Tyler Buter) at the :26 quarter then carving out middle splits of :53.4 and 1:21 with a clear lead before settling for the runner-up role.
Shake That House, who got away towards the back of the pack in sixth ahead of the early breakers (Pyro and De Los Cielos Deo), tipped second-over down the backstretch and swung wide of Breeders Crown champion Dancin Lou (Andy McCarthy) in the outer flow to catch the favourite at the finish.
"Last week, my horse actually raced really well -- got home in :25 and a piece out here," noted Tetrick. "I thought if there was enough speed and they came back to me, he would be right there.
"When I tipped him off the rail and I caught up to my cover, he felt really good. He jumped up there in two or three strides. It wasn't any work to him. When I got to tip and got around Andy [McCarthy in rein to Dancin Lou], I thought 'well, I got a shot here' and he tracked that horse down."
The American Ideal-Shake That Junk colt, who won the Max C. Hempt Memorial and established a Vernon Downs track record in New York Sire Stakes action during the summer, now sports a seasonal record reading 7-1-3 from 17 starts. The victory was his 10th lifetime and boosted his bankroll over the $700,000 mark.
Shake That House returned $20.20 for the upset victory.
U S Captain (Dexter Dunn) flashed early gate speed to get a three-hole trip and finished one length behind the top pair along the pylons. American Mercury was a close fourth with Semi Tough and Dancin Lou finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
A pair of $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund Stakes finals for two-year-old pacers were featured on the undercard with the Wayne Givens-trained filly Cinder Rock romping to a wide-open 1:53.2 win with Allan Davis aboard and Bebop On The Block taking the colt division in 1:54.2 in rein to Dexter Dunn for the Josh Green stable.
........and that concludes
........and that concludes the major stakes races in North America in 2019. The next one will be The Levy final at Yonkers, five full months from now.