Andrew Harris figures he is likely to get emotional when the time arrives later this month for Abuckabett Hanover to be formally honoured as the Dan Patch Older Male Pacer of the Year.
Purchased in October 2022 by Bill Pollock, Bruce Areman and Harris, Abuckabett Hanover (aka Bucky) hit the board in 12 of 15 races, winning seven and earning a division-best $1,144,111 in 2024 as a six-year-old. The stallion finished worse than second only twice in his final 12 starts and counted the William R. Haughton Memorial, FanDuel Open Pace Championship, Dayton Derby and Dave Brower Memorial among his triumphs.
On Feb. 23 at Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida, Abuckabett Hanover will be among the horses and people honoured at the United States Harness Writers Association’s Dan Patch Awards banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment.
“Growing up, I never thought I’d have horses like that,” said Harris, a 40-year-old trainer who started his own stable a little more than a decade ago. “For me, it’s huge. I’ll probably get emotional about it because it is a big deal. I don’t think people realize that there are probably 10,000 horses that start in North America, and 12 of them are getting awards at the end of the year. So, it’s an amazing thing for the horse. It’s absolutely gigantic.
“And I wanted it for the horse more than for me because he’s so special. He’s the coolest horse I’ve ever been around.”
Making it additionally special is the fact that Abuckabett Hanover was the first horse ever purchased by the partnership of Pollock, Areman and Harris.
“How rare is it that [the first one] ends up being one that takes you all the way to the Dan Patch Awards?” said Harris. “It’s super rare. They understand that and they really appreciate it. Obviously, he’s the best horse for us, he’s kind of the franchise horse that we based everything off of. He leads the way and he’s always reliable.”
Lifetime, the son of Betting Line-All Tucked Up has won 22 of 74 races and banked $2,447,194.
Always known for his finishing kick — he has 21 sub-:26 last quarters in his career — Abuckabett Hanover benefitted last year from being more forwardly placed early in races by driver Dexter Dunn, Harris said.
“He was more of a threat off the wings and I think that translated into a more successful year,” said Harris. “He’s more mature where you can get him to leave now and he doesn’t get too rank. He lets you do what you want to do.
“It’s tough in today’s racing world when you’re getting away seventh or eighth all the time. Dex did a great job placing him 90 per cent of the time within the top three and giving him less ground to make up. That parlayed into probably the best season he’s ever had.”
Abuckabett Hanover’s other strength is one not easily visible.
“I think if we polled everybody, they’d probably say his last quarter burst is usually his best quality, but, that said, I think it’s his heart,” said Harris. “He wants it more than most horses and that’s what makes him pass horses so late all the time. He truly wants it. He’s lost a lot of races, not of his own fault, but just because he had too far to come. So, to me, I think his heart is probably his biggest asset.
“But it’s awfully nice to have an engine like he’s got for the last quarter.”
Abuckabett Hanover will return to the races in 2025 — in fact, Tuesday marked his first training day back with Harris.
“He’s getting ready for pretty much the same schedule he had last year,” said Harris. “We’re not really going to tweak it a whole lot because it seemed to work for him. We won’t try to get cute, and hopefully he will be able to last all season like he did last year. It’s a big accomplishment for the team that they were able to do that.”
(With files from USTA)