The rain held off and a good crowd turned out for Trevor Breadner night at Hanover Raceway. Breadner was a great fan of horse racing, and passed away in 2004 at the young age of 23, after a three-year long battle with cancer.
The eighth race was named in Breadner's honour and it included a stellar field of pacers.
Lyons Geoff had the rail and grabbed the early lead for driver Anthony Haughn and owner Geoffrey Lyons Mound of Burford, ON. The five-year-old son of Astreos hit the quarter mile marker in :27 seconds flat, and battled with favourite Ghost Hunter (Bruce Richardson), who had the lead at the half in :55.4. Ghost Hunter couldn’t overcome the outside trip from Post 7 and lost the lead to Lyons Geoff at the three-quarter mile marker in 1:24.3. Despite some pressure from Oakley Seelster (Bob McClure), Lyons Geoff finished the mile in front in 1:54.2, equaling the record for aged pacing horses held by Northern Dynasty and just missing Magical GG's overall track record by one-fifth of a second.
Afterwards, Haughn said his horse was just rounding into form after a six month layoff and was at the top of his game in just his third race back off the layoff. Haughn said his trainer told him that Lyons Geoff was getting better every start and he felt the best way to win was to go to the top and try and stay there.
MC Fred Wallace also interviewed one of the newcomers to Hanover Raceway, driver Jack Waples of Hepworth, ON in between races. The 22-year-old said he learned everything he knows about racing from his father Wendell and said he loves listening to racing stories from his grandfather, Murray Waples. Athough Jack has yet to win his first race, he says he’s not anxious about it, and knows it will eventually come. Jack also thanked the many trainers that have given his the opportunity to drive, and looks forward to the future.
In other action, driver Trevor Henry collected a dozen wins on the 12-race program including four for trainer Paul Taylor; Cammiofthenorth (2:01.1), Dominant Image (2:00.1), Jiffyson (1:55.1), and Heartsanddiamonds (1:58.1). Henry also won with Tr Meadow Blossom (1:58.4) for trainer Kent Glassford and One Rich Yankee (1:57) for David McGinnis.
Hanover Raceway features its annual Pepsi night, next Saturday night. The folks at Pepsi have donated a steel barbecue, 21-speed mountain bike, golf bag and a round of golf for four at Monterra Golf Club among the many prizes for fans next Saturday night.
Post time at Hanover Raceway June 13 is 7:15 p.m.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from Hanover Raceway)