Jason Ryan had a near insurmountable lead in the driving standings at Hanover Raceway heading into the season finale on Saturday (Sept. 17) and he put the icing on the cake with a win in the Saturday feature, the 2022 Bud & Ethel Fritz Memorial Pace.
Ryan played catch-me-if-you-can aboard Carsons Shadow in the seventh race feature, and the 3-5 favourite did the rest. Starting from post two, Carsons Shadow ($3.30) made the front and hammered out panels of :29, :58.1 and 1:26.2 before coasting home comfortably to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.2. Easton Beach (George Ketros) Fear The Shadow (Tyler Moore) completed the top trio.
Vicki Gregg trains 18-time winner Carsons Shadow (Shadow Play - Carsons Ladyluck) for breeder-owner David Carson of Listowel, Ont. the six-year-old gelding now sports $161,444 in career earnings.
Jason Ryan picked up his 29th local tally to secure the 2022 Hanover Raceway driving title. On the training side, John Kennedy's 11 tallies (in just 22 starts) topped the leaderboard.
Another son of Shadow Play was victorious on the Saturday sub-feature, as Dows Up (Shadow Play - So Whats Up) picked up his second win in as many attempts in the sole $7,200 Prospect Series leg for two-year-old male pacers. Dan Clements engineered the winning trip, a 1:59 score for trainer Lindsey Kerr and owners Sally Charlton of Tecumseh, David Deighton of Chatham and Sergio Vespa of Belleville, Ont.
While the 1:58.2 win of Northern Prima in the afternoon's second race might not have seemed all that noteworthy, it certainly couldn't have rained in a much drier spot. The last time the nine-year-old mare had her picture taken for trainer and co-owner Darryl Holmes was July 23, 2018 at Grand River Raceway, breaking her 87-race winless skid.
For the results from the 2022 season finale at Hanover, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hanover Raceway.