A quartet of $15,300 Dreamy Of Glory eliminations were held on Saturday night at Hanover Raceway with the top two in each race advancing to the $100,000 final
next Saturday, August 1st.
In the first elimination, three-year-old Agusto jumped out to the lead, possibly thanks to the confidence of winning an OSS Grassroots event at Rideau Carleton on July 12, and never looked back. Trained by John Bax, and driven by Stephen Byron, the Angus Hall gelding set a new lifetime mark in 1:58.2, which turned out to be the fastest of the four eliminations.
Groom Matt Bax said he wasn’t surprised by the gelding’s performance, and hoped he’d be even faster in the final. PC Troubadour, owned and trained by Peter Clements of Dobbinton and driven by Ross Battin, was second.
In elimination No. 2, favourite Magic Spice got away second behind Tymal Eldorado, but broke going into the first turn. Trevor Henry then rebuffed all attackers to win the mile in 1:59.2.
Part owner, Doug Millard of Woodstock, says he wasn’t surprised at his horse’s finish despite only having four lifetime starts going into the race. He says trainer and part owner Brad Maxwell likes to make sure his horse’s are ready before they put them into race, and he says his horse was ready.
B Cor Tanya driven and trained by Riina Rekila finished second.
In the third elim, Lukas Rossi, driven by Randy Fritz, got away fourth and made a break, but got a nice second-over flow and won by a nose over Anahar Buster, driven by Paul Walker in 2:00 flat.
Winning trainer Ron O’Neill said his horse has had a few problems this season after a great two-year-old year where he won five of eight races and over $60,000. O’Neill says he’s been trying to find the right shoes for his horse and feels the $100,000 final will feature a very competitive field.
In the final elimination, five of the seven horses went off stride including four in the first turn, but Bacio Hanover had the luck of a Post 2 starting position, and was ahead of all the confusion and cruised to victory in an easy time of 2:02.4.
Afterwards, driver and trainer Per Henriksen, formerly of Norway, said he never had to test his horse, and in fact didn’t have to pull the ear plugs, because most of the field was well back of him by the time he hit the quarter pole. Last Strike, who was one of the horses to go offstride, managed to get things back together and finish seconnd, thanks to the steering of driver Randy Fritz.
Dream of Glory final day will include a live band and BBQ starting at 6:00 p.m., Tara Oaks Carriage rides, face painting for the kids, and after the races, a huge BEM fireworks display. General Manager Gord Dougan reminds people to plan out their arrival carefully because parking will be at a premium due to the reconstruction of the Hanover Coliseum. He also asked residents to rent out their driveways and front lawns to raceway fans, as Dream of Glory Day attracts up to 5,000 racing and fireworks fans. Post time on Saturday August 1st is 7:00 p.m.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click here.
(With files from Hanover Raceway)