In the 2021 Breeders Crown Open Pace, Allywag Hanover is the 2-1 morning-line favourite out of post eight. Harness racing’s No. 3-ranked horse is on a roll, having won five straight and six of seven. He received a bye into the final. In his most recent start, he paced 1:46.4 in the Allerage Open at Lexington’s Red Mile to equal the world record for a gelding pacer.
“He’s unreal, he’s just grown up,” trainer Brett Pelling said. “I can’t one hundred percent put a finger on it, other than he’s gotten a bit older and stronger. He’s just become a better horse. He’s always been a high-speed horse, but he’s always liked to do things his way. Now, his way is the right way. So, he’s doing great.”
Allywag Hanover, by Captaintreacherous out of Anderosa Hanover, will have Todd McCarthy in the sulky. For the season, the four-year-old gelding has won nine of 16 races and $755,450.
“We do very little with him, he likes it that way,” said Pelling, an 11-time Breeders Crown winner. “It’s just working for him. As he’s gotten older, he’s not as hard on himself as he was before.
“He missed two weeks before he raced in Lexington, and to be honest with you, he never trained while I was down there until he came down. He just stepped out there and went (1):46.4, so he’s on his game.”
This Is The Plan was on his game last week, winning the Open Pace elimination by a nose over stablemate Cattlewash in 1:49.3.
“He raced really good last week,” driver Yannick Gingras said. “It’s been a long season, so I wanted to be able to trip him out. It looks like there is a lot of speed (in the final) so maybe we can trip him out the same way this week. He was really sharp last week, and I think he should be even better this week.”
Trained by Ron Burke, the horse has six wins, eight seconds and four thirds in 22 starts, and has earned $810,929 this year, which leads all Open Pace finalists. One of his trademarks has been his consistency.
“I think it’s because of the Burke program,” Gingras said. “The way they do it, they don’t overdo it. They don’t go speed in between races. They get some miles into them, a lot of jogging, but they also get a lot of turn out. His system works that way.
“This horse has speed, obviously. He’s got high, high speed. That’s his best quality in my opinion. Maybe he could be a little stronger, then he would be like a super horse, but I think speed is his best quality, and he’s a horse that’s consistent. That helps a lot too.”
This Is The Plan will start the final from post four and is 5-1 on the morning line. Cattlewash will leave from post five with David Miller driving for Burke and is 4-1.
The Breeders Crown Open Pace is Race 11 on Saturday, the last of the eight Breeders Crown finals. To view the full entries for Saturday's Breeders Crown card of harness racing at The Meadowlands, click one of the following links: Saturday Entries ♔ Saturday Program Pages.
(USTA)