Brushing to the front heading to the half, Abuckabett Hanover accelerated for the finish and strolled to the beam in hand to post a 1:51 win as the 1-9 favourite in the second of two $40,000 eliminations for the Metro Pace on Saturday (Sept. 19) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Lawless Shadow shot to the front with Bayfield Beach securing the pocket and Abuckabett Hanover landing in third moving to a :27.4 first quarter. Heading to a :57 half, driver Andrew McCarthy motored Abuckabett Hanover to the front and sped to three-quarters in 1:24.4. Lawless Shadow edged wide into the stretch but gave pursuit to Abuckabett Hanover, shown minor urging and hitting the finish under wraps. Bayfield Beach finished third with Control Heaven and Ucanttouchthis also qualifying for the final.
“He was very good tonight,” McCarthy said after the race. “I was hoping there was going to be a little more speed to the half and I could sit in, but I didn’t want to be first over to a half [in] :58 so I had to move him. He’s still learning—I had to kind of call on him there a little bit but there were still earplugs in, so I told him to go and he went. He was terrific tonight.”
Winning his fourth race from six starts, Abuckabett Hanover has earned $165,234 for owners Barbera Stable, Jablonsky Held Stable and Joe Deguara. Tony Alagna trains the Betting Line colt who paid $2.10 to win.
Highlandbeachsbest blitzed pacesetter Bettor Sun in the stretch to pull a 14-1 upset in the opening Metro elimination, stopping the clock in 1:51.4.
Driver Trevor Henry hustled Highlandbeachsbest to the front heading to a :27.1 first quarter with Bettor Sun settling into second and Twin B Fighter into third. Bettor Sun into the backstretch vacated pocket and circled to take the lead before a :56 half, but soon faced far-turn pressure when Twin B Fighter tipped first over with 3-5 favourite Pirate Hanover in tow.
Past three-quarters in 1:24.3, Pirate Hanover fanned off cover but made a break and stumbled to last. Henry angled Highlandbeachsbest off the pylons and surged after the front coming to the final eighth. The Somebeachsomewhere colt seized control late in the stretch and held off a rally from No Bettor Joy to win by less than a length. Bettor Sun, Exploit and Twin B Fighter round the finalists.
“He’s been a nice colt,” Henry said after the race. “Usually when I move him he kind of hangs and last week he was really aggressive. I said to Amanda ‘Maybe throw a mini bit on him so you can control him a little better?’ I think I might’ve shut him off last week [finishing fourth in the Champlain]. She added it and he was good tonight.”
Owned by Highland Thoroughbred Farm and Marty Fine, Highlandbeachsbest won his second race from eight starts, earning $49,686. Amanda Fine trains the $31.00 winner.
During the Saturday card, Woodbine Mohawk Park conducted the post-position draw for the $720,000 Metro Pace Final. The field as it will align appears below:
PP-Horse Name
1-Ucanttouchthis
2-Exploit
3-Abuckabett Hanover
4-Highlandbeachsbest
5-Bayfield Beach
6-No Bettor Joy
7-Twin B Fighter
8-Lawless Shadow
9-Bettor Sun
10-Control Heaven
AE-Pirate Hanover
The Metro Pace eliminations were one of the handful of major stakes events on the Saturday card at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Recaps from the other races are available at the following links:
To view the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.