Drop Red brushed to command down the backstretch and powered home to win the $228,500 Oliver Wendell Holmes for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Saturday at the Meadowlands Racetrack
.
Passmaster Hanover (Tim Tetrick), Western Dakota (Dave Miller) and Vertical Hanover (Ron Pierce) all aimed for the early lead going around the first turn, but Vertical Horizon won the battle and settled on top before the :27.1 first quarter mark. During the second interval, Passmaster Hanover, a part of the favoured entry, made a brief appearance on the front end before Drop Red and driver George Brennan swooped up from fourth and reached the half in :53.3. The 3-1 second choice powered past three-quarters in 1:20.4 before giving it his all in the stretch. Drop Red tripped the timer in a dazzling 1:49.2, holding off Hypnotic Blue Chip (Andy Miller) by three-quarters of a length. Vertical Horizon was third.
"He did hold on pretty good," said Brennan following the race. "A couple of weeks ago, in the Meadowlands Pace, I got to the lead and kind of snuck him up and he didn't pace home good at all. When I got to the top tonight, I just went full blown minister and put the metal down."
“Its been a long time coming,” trainer and co-owner Robert Horowitz added. “The horse has been slugging it out with some of the best colts in the country for most of the year and we had some bitter events in the past and this hopefully helps us move forward.
“The horse shows up every week, he’s got tremendous heart. He’s got a few more dances and hopefully we’ll bring him back next year.”
Drop Red notched his fifth win in 13 seasonal starts and bumped his earnings to $272,700. Randolph Perry of Nokomis, Florida shares ownership of the Red River Hanover-Igottwowordsforyou colt, who is a winner of nine races lifetime and $338,225.
Stay tuned to the SC website for full coverage of harness racing's Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands.
To view the results, click here.