Salutation Hanover, driven by Matt Kakaley and trained by Ron Burke, won the $28,000 open handicap trot Tuesday night at Pocono Downs
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Kakaley caught a break in the race when Vivid Photo (Yannick Gingras) went on a break near the five-eighths pole. Kakaley was second over behind Impressive Earl (George Napolitano, Jr.) with Grain Of Truth (Ray Schnittker) taking the nine-horse field to the half in :57.1 after Vivid Photo was the leader at the opening split in :27.3.
The breaking Vivid Photo, who didn’t finish the race, scattered some horses and Kakaley took Salutation Hanover to the inside to follow Grain Of Truth. At the top of the lane, Kakaley took to the passing lane and won by a length and one-quarter in 1:54.3 over Grain Of Truth with Impressive Earl rounding out the top three.
The victory marked improved Salutation Hanover’s 2010 record to 2-2-1 in six starts.
In last week’s open handicap trot, it was Grain Of Truth taking to the passing lane to win by a nose over Vivid Photo. The eighth-year-old gelding and former Hambletonian winner who was hurting and examined by a state veterinarian following the race Tuesday evening after going off stride.
After collecting nine wins Saturday evening, Napolitano, Jr. had four victories through 11 races of the 15-race card Tuesday.
(Pocono Downs)