High Rise Hanover rose to the occasion Saturday, July 4, turning in the fastest mile of the morning qualifying session at Woodbine Mohawk Park, while Kings Crown N Coke and Erinwood Cosmo supplied the fireworks to close out the six baby races.
With Jody Jamieson at the controls, High Rise Hanover left out of the gate from post six and pushed to the lead in the first of two pacing events, setting fractions of :28.4, :58.2, and 1:28.1 while maintaining a comfortable advantage on the field. The gelding closed out the mile with a :28.1 last panel to win by a half-length in 1:56.2, dropping a full second from his previous qualifying effort. Runner up Billy Hill turned in a solid performance, moving from fourth in the turn and speeding home in :26.4 for Doug McNair. Charmbro J R and Tyler Borth used a pocket trip to finish third, another eight lengths back.
High Rise Hanover is a son of Tall Dark Stranger-High Minded trained by Nicky Comegna. Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, he sold for $35,211 at last year's Harrisburg sale. Bruno Comegna of Burlington, Ont. owns High Rise Hanover.
Kings Crown N Coke and driver Trevor Henry finished first in the last of four qualifiers for young trotters, but the margin was a nose, tripping the timer in 1:58.2. Henry settled in the pocket seat in the early going as Psyclone Seelster (Mark McKinnon) set the tempo through fractions of :30, 1:00 and 1:29.2. Trotting out of the turn, the leader made an ill-timed break, setting up a dash to the finish. Erinwood Cosmo, guided by Scott Young, avoided the breaker and took control in the lane. But Henry and Kings Crown N Coke were not finished, engaging the leader in deep stretch and surging late for the narrow win. R Northern Star (Doug McNair) finished third, 2-3/4-lengths off the battling duo.
Kings Crown N Coke is a King Of The North-Miss Everything colt bred by Riina Rekila of Siuro, Finland. He sold for $43,000 at last year's London Classic Yearling Sale. The trotter is trained by Scott McEneny of Carlisle, Ont., who shares ownership with Varsakis Racing of Hamilton, Ont., and Cantucky Farm Inc., of Jarvis, Ont. The winning qualifier comes after two off the board finishes at Woodbine Mohawk Park in conditioned events.
The full video stream is available below.
To view the results, click the following link: Saturday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)