They say confidence can carry you a long way, and driver Scott Zeron is hoping his confidence in two-year-old pacing filly Apogee Hanover carries them straight to the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final winner’s circle at Windsor Raceway on Sunday evening
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“Last week at Windsor was, bar none, the best she’s ever been for me,” says the reinsman, who piloted the filly to an effortless two length victory in the Sept. 18 elimination. “I have the utmost confidence in her talent. She’s very versatile and she just keeps going and going, there never really comes an end to her.”
Zeron first sat behind Apogee Hanover in a qualifying event at Mohawk Racetrack on July 5. The Jeremes Jet daughter won that qualifier with a :27.2 last quarter sprint, and the young reinsman earned a spot in her race bike for the Gold Series season opener at Mohawk. The pair finished second in that July 11 event, landing a berth in the Gold Final one week later, but a flight delay in Ottawa caused Zeron to miss the race and Apogee Hanover was piloted to a 1:52.3 victory by his father Rick Zeron.
The senior Zeron then piloted the filly in a Gold elimination at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Aug. 8, but Apogee Hanover made an early break and finished well back of the leaders. A scratch in the Gold Final gave the filly an opportunity to defend her title and she was reunited with the younger Zeron for the effort, but a combination of caution and a sloppy oval saw her finish two and three-quarter lengths back in fifth.
“I went up there to drive her and it was muddy, and I drove her cautious and I really shouldn’t have. She didn’t have a chance to win that race,” admits the young reinsman, who captured the 2010 Lampman Cup as the top driver in the Ontario Sires Stakes program.
Zeron feels no sense of caution heading into Sunday’s Gold Final and says the gloves will be off when he rolls in behind Post 2 in the seventh race.
“I might drive her more aggressively in the Final,” speculates the Oakville resident. “I think she’s much the best in that race.”
Among the fillies the pair will face in Sunday’s $130,000 test is reigning Gold Final champion Class Of O Nine, who is owned by trainer Bob McIntosh of Windsor and Dwight Stacey of Mitchell, Ont. Randy Waples will steer the two-time Gold Final winner from Post 5 and Zeron knows Class Of O Nine and a handful of other fillies that were boxed in during the elimination will have their game faces on this week.
“Those horses will be quite brave coming into the Final,” notes the reinsman, who steers Apogee Hanover for trainer Ervin Miller and owner Roger Hammer of Bedford, Pennsylvania.
In addition to three races and one qualifier, Zeron has piloted Apogee Hanover in several schooling sessions for Miller and says that knowledge adds to his confidence in the young pacer.
“I’ve driven her four times I think, and I’ve probably schooled her another four times,” he points out. “I know the ins and outs of what she is capable of and what she can do.”
In addition to her five Gold Series appearances, Apogee Hanover also butted heads against North America’s best in the Shes A Great Lady Stake at Mohawk Racetrack earlier in the month. The half-sister to $869,912 winner Alastor Hanover finished third in her elimination with a scorching :26.4 final quarter and then suffered from interference in the $633,000 final and finished ninth.
“I didn’t drive her, but she raced amazing in the elimination,” says Zeron, who handed the lines over to David Miller for the Aug. 27 elimination and Sept. 3 final. “Her strong point is closing.”
Zeron is leaving his options open in Sunday’s Gold Final, waiting to see happens with the other members of the nine horse field, and confident that his mount has the versatility to handle any trip he designs.
The two-year-old pacing fillies will wage their Gold Final battle in the seventh race on Sunday’s program, with the first race rolling in behind the Windsor Raceway starting gate at 7 p.m.
To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Windsor Raceway.
(OSS)