Legendary Hanover took the lead at the half-mile point of the $890,411 Meadowlands Pace on Saturday, July 13 and dominated from there, drawing away in the stretch for a stakes-record 1:46.3 victory in the 48th edition of the one-mile event for three-year-old pacers at The Meadowlands.
Legendary Hanover’s stablemate Nijinsky, the 6-5 favourite, finished second, his first loss in seven races this year. Gem Quality was third. The margin of victory was 5-1/2 lengths.
The previous stakes record of 1:46.4 was set in 2014 by Hes Watching.
Legendary Hanover, the 2-1 second choice, was fifth as the field reached the opening quarter in :26.2, but on top in a :53.2 half after a big move on the backstretch with driver James MacDonald.
He reached three-quarters in 1:20.2 and was unthreatened the rest of the way as he won for the fourth time in seven starts this season for trainer Anthony Beaton.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” Beaton said. “It’s pretty awesome.
“He earned this race tonight. James made a bold move, but it was the winning move in the end. He just showed what kind of calibre horse he is.”
MacDonald admitted the race didn’t develop the way he imagined prior to heading onto the track.
“It was exactly what I didn’t want to do before the race, but he’s a big, strong horse and sometimes he likes to drag me around the track. That’s kind of what he came up with tonight,” MacDonald said. “I know he’s got the gears to do it. The second he cleared, it wasn’t like, 'oh, this is too much.' It was like he was going to jog. He’s a good horse.
“I wanted to give him a shot, try to put him in position to win. Even if you’ve got to overdrive a little bit, that’s just how it goes in these big races. You don’t want to be at the back saying ‘what if.’ I’m just so proud of the horse, so proud of Tony. I’m just thrilled.”
Legendary Hanover came into the Meadowlands Pace final off a 1:48 win, with a :24.4 last quarter, in his elimination last week.
“The horse really solidified last week what he was, and what we’ve always thought he was,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald and Beaton both won the Meadowlands Pace for the first time.
“I never dreamed in a million years I’d be winning races like this,” said MacDonald, who has won Canada’s Driver of the Year Award the past three years. “It was a thrill for me to just watch these races, so to be in them and win them, it’s really special.”
Nearing the finish line, MacDonald gave several celebratory fist pumps. Not since Trevor Ritchie and Frugal Gourmet in 1987 has a Canadian-based driver won the Meadowlands Pace.
“A couple times (in the past) he would get lost on the front, but he didn’t feel like that tonight,” MacDonald said about his colt. “He was all business. And when he’s all business, he’s a scary animal. I’m just so happy to be along for the ride.”
Legendary Hanover has won 10 of 16 career races and earned $963,792 for owners Eric Good, West Wins Stable, and Mark Dumain. The son of Huntsville-Lillian Hanover was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms.
“I’ve said from day one that Legendary is a phenomenal animal,” Beaton said. “Nijinsky is a phenomenal animal. There were others, too, in there. I’m just glad that James took the shot when he did, and the horse did the rest.”
While Legendary Hanover’s time was impressive, Beaton had other numbers on his mind when asked about the stakes-record clocking.
“We’re just happy to win, whether it’s the fastest, the slowest, as long as the cheques keep coming in,” he said.
Legendary Hanover paid $6.00 to win.
FIVE MILL! WHAT A THRILL: A total of $5,136,129 was wagered on the 14-race Pace Night program, the biggest night of business in the sport during 2024, and the third time in the last five years that wagering cleared the $5-million hurdle on Pace Night.
Wagering on the Meadowlands Pace itself totaled $628,010.
A LITTLE MORE: James MacDonald, the three-time defending O’Brien Award-winning Driver of the Year as the top pilot in Canada, recorded four winners on the Pace Night program to lead the driver colony. … After Legendary Hanover won the Meadowlands Pace, there was one winning ticket in the 20-cent Pick-6, which was good for a return of $57,497.22. … The biggest 50-cent Pick-4 pool of the year was recorded on races eight through 11 after $144,968 was pushed through the windows. … Live harness racing resumes Friday, July 19 at 6:20 p.m.
(with files from Meadowlands)