Check Six and Manhattan Beach, the winners of the $35,000 elimination divisions last week, head a fast field of three-year-olds in Dover Downs’ signature event, the $314,600 Hap Hansen-Progress Pace on Monday, November 28.
The card will kick off with a 4:30 p.m. first-race post time.
Yannick Gingras drove the Ron Burke-trained Check Six to victory last Monday in the first of two $35,000 elims. The bay colt is owned by Weaver Bruscemi, Bill Switala, Jim Martin and Burke Racing. Check Six recently won his Breeders Crown elim, a division of the Bluegrass Stakes and his Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final.
The other Hanson Progress elim was an impressive victory for John McGill and Brian Carsey’s Manhattan Beach, driven by former Dover Downs regular Matt Kakaley. The well-bred pacer came into his own during the recent Breeders Crown with a third in his elim and a second-place finish in the $500,000 final at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Brad Grant’s Easy Lover Hanover, whose five-race win streak in Ontario ended with a second-place finish in his Progress Pace elim, will start from Post in the final. Easy Lover Hanover was a $25,000 supplement to the event. Last winter, prominent Ontario trainer Ben Wallace lost his stable of horses in a disastrous fire. Grant, who is one of Wallace’s owners, then purchased Easy Lover Hanover early this year at the Meadowlands sale for $70,000 and the gelding has already won 14 races and more than $150,000 in purses
A second supplemental starter in the $314,600 final is Peter Blood and Rick Berks’ Boston Red Rocks, trained by Steve Elliott and with Tim Tetrick handling the reins. Boston Red Rocks was last season’s U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Two-Year-Old Colt of the Year. Although having finished in the top three in 13 of his 18 races, three of his five wins have come since September, including the $160,200 Matron at Dover.
Reinsman David Miller will be in the bike for Jeff Snyder and Geoffrey Lyons’ well-travelled Lyons Snyder. Third last week, the Jimmy Takter trainee was second in a Breeders Crown elim and in a Little Brown Jug elim.
Brittany Farms’ homebred Western Fame, also trained by the Takter Stable, finished second in the Matron, and second in the Little Brown Jug, is teamed with driver Mark MacDonald.
Corey Callahan will drive JK Will Power, conditioned by David Smith and owned by Bendis, Pollack, Hauber and J. Piatt II. The colt’s major victory came in the Jennas Beach Boy at Hoosier Park two months ago.
Saddled with Post 8 is Fashion Farms’ homebred Katies Rocker, trained by Jim Campbell with Andrew McCarthy piloting. The gelding finished strongly in last week’s elim closing from sixth in mid backstretch to a strong second.
The $314,600 Hap Hansen Progress Pace is the 10th race on the 15-dash program.
(With files from Dover Downs)