Breeders Crown champ gets first stakes win of the season

2022 Breeders Crown winner Gaines Hanover (Cantab Hall) captured the $177,200 Simcoe Stakes for open trotters for his first harness racing stakes victory of the season on Saturday (Sep. 2) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Sylvain Filion landed him a third-over spot coming down the backstretch as Ghostly Casper (Doug McNair) sped through :28 and :56 fractions on the lead. Gaines Hanover kicked off his three-wide rally as they passed three-quarters in 1:24.1, but he had work to do with four Ontario stars to beat down the lane.

The leading vanguard reduced to Osceola and Southwind Coors (Todd McCarthy) in the last eighth of a mile, and Gaines Hanover out-kicked them both with a big finishing rush to score in 1:53.1.

Southwind Coors was defeated by a neck, and Osceola was a length back in third.

“I’ve raced against him so many times, and I was real happy to get the drive on this guy for this race here,” Filion said. “I thought it was the only way to go – I floated out of there, and I got covered up. Even though I never saw pylons, he swelled up around the last turn, and he just wanted to go so much. He tries real hard.”

GAINES HANOVER REPLAY

Gaines Hanover was previously one-for-seven this season, with his only win in a Goodtimes elimination. He has now won six of 16 lifetime attempts and has earned $666,236. Richard Moreau trains the gelding for Gestion J Y Blais of Montreal.

In the $157,200 filly division, Climb The Pole (Kadabra) charged late for her fourth consecutive stakes victory.

Jody Jamieson sat the filly third with the odds-on Righteous Resolve (James MacDonald) providing the fractions of :26.3 and :55.3 to the half. Climb The Pole tipped out on the final turn, forcing the hand of pocket-sitter Hp Extra Ice (Yannick Gingras), and swung three-wide at three-quarters in 1:24.

Righteous Resolve re-ignited entering the stretch, taking a two-length cushion, but Climb The Pole put her to a drive down the lane. The leader hung tough into the final strides, but Climb The Pole had too much late trot and got up by a half-length in 1:52.2.

Baroness Hill also charged late but fell just short of Righteous Resolve, who held onto second.

CLIMB THE POLE REPLAY

Climb The Pole’s stakes streak started on Jul. 16 when she was placed first in an Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold. She won another Gold a month later, and then captured her division of the Casual Breeze on Aug. 25. Owners Jody Jamieson, Carl Jamieson, Steve Heimbecker, and Aaron Byron acquired the filly mid-season, and she is four-for-five for the group. Carl Jamieson trains the sophomore.

“She just tries, she doesn’t give up – she’s never gives up,” Jody Jamieson said. “She’s just a sweetheart, really. She’s an ornery mare sometimes, but when you get a racehorse like her and she tries every week… you can’t beat that.”

The race was for three-year-old trotting fillies. The counterpart open event is scheduled for later on the Woodbine Mohawk Park card.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink