In his 204th career start, Waikiki Hanover was presented with a new challenge: trotting under saddle. The 10-year-old veteran and his connections clearly don't subscribe to the adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Waikiki Hanover was one of six horses entered in Saturday's Racing Under Saddle event at Hanover Raceway. With Karoline Nielsen in the irons, Waikiki Hanover sat off the early tempo put up by Talbot Eh Plus and rider Maggie Jones. Trotting first up into a 1:01.3 half, Waikiki Hanover confidently stalked the leader and cleared just past the 1:33.1 third station. A three-length lead stretched out to five at the wire, reached in 2:04.4. Talbot Eh Plus and Dominum Deo (Marielle Enberg) completed the triactor.
The win was the first in RUS competition for Nielsen this year in three starts, and the first this year for Waikiki Hanover (Cantab Hall - Whitesand Samantha) as well. The Alan Fair-trained and Liz Fair-owned trotter picked up his 30th career tally and lifted his earnings to $225,194.
For the full charted results from Hanover's Saturday card, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hanover Raceway.