A-plus performance by A Positive Hanover

A Positive Hanover avenged his narrow opening day defeat in Dresden Raceway’s Preferred 3 Pace harness racing class by winning it on Sunday via the front-end.

Donnie Rankin demanded early pace from his Captaintreacherous stallion, and A Positive Hanover took command going to the quarter in :29.1. He traveled unhurried through the half in :59.4 but was met with pressure as the field of eight approached three-quarters in 1:29.3.

Leafs And Wings (Jonathan Hahn) tipped three-wide around stalled cover while swinging through the final turn and went after the leader. A Positive Hanover, however, had enough stamina remaining to hold off the challenger and take the victory in 1:59.3. Leafs And Wings was half a length short in second. Style Snapshot (Tyler Nostadt) grabbed show.

The winner rewarded his backers with $5.40 for a $2 base.

A Positive Hanover, a four-year-old, is owned and trained by Rankin. The horse has won eight of 32 career starts, and he has made $71,216.

Dresden Raceway also held two $5,000 divisions of the first leg of the Mark Austin Pacing Series.

Shadow Warrior wired the field in the first division in 2:00 for driver Alfie Caroll. The three-year-old gelded son of Shadow Play is now three-for-five lifetime and has earned $9,900. Keith Cullen is his trainer and co-owner; Chris Cain is the other partner.

Shes A Comedian destroyed her foes with a 12-and-a-quarter-length romp in the second division. It was her first lifetime win in three tries, and she has earned $5,780. Randy Marriage schools the sophomore Hes Watching filly for Ronald Nobes and Greg Holmes.

The second leg of the series will be contested on Sunday, Jun. 27 with $5,000 on offer per division. The final will have $12,000 added. Pacers with less than one win and/or $5,000 in earnings ($6,000 for fillies and mares) as of Mar. 21, 2021 were eligible for the series.

Drivers Alfie Carroll and Scott Wray both won twice across the 11-race afternoon.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink