Trot Insider has learned that pacing mare Voelz Hanover, who set a world record at two and made more than $150,000 for seven straight seasons, has been retired.
A $27,000 yearling purchase, the daughter of Astreos made headlines with a 1:51.3 world record mile in a Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final at Hiawatha Horse Horse Park in 2007. She'd continue her success in the OSS program at three before moving on to tackling aged competition for four years. Over that time she paced with the best mares in North America, winning numerous Opens and Preferreds while also winning her share of stakes events. She captured the Forest City Pace in 2011 at Western Fair, equalled the half-mile pacing world record for aged pacing mares at Flamboro Downs in 2012 and won the 2014 Milton Final at Mohawk Racetrack.
Voelz Hanover was one of two horses with samples containing "five times the threshold level of cobalt typically found in a horse’s system" following out-of-competition testing performed on horses that participated in the 2014 Breeders Crown. Voelz Hanover was scheduled to race through the winter but was repeatedly scratched by stewards in New York and New Jersey, despite blood tests that showed “everything was normal,” according to owner Richard Berthiaume, prompting the retirement.
Voelz Hanover retires with 45 wins and more than $1.7 million in purses. Now 10, she’s being bred to Mach Three.