Prince Hal Hanover too good in $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial

Northfield, OH — Following a disappointing disqualification in The Meadowlands Pace, the connections of Prince Hal Hanover (Captaintreacherous) hoped he would rebound.

He did it in a big way.

He followed up the disqualification with a win in the Grade 1 $385,000 Adios Final at The Meadows on July 26th and a powerhouse victory in the Grade 2 $300,000 Carl Milstein Memorial on Saturday (August 9) at MGM Northfield Park. He has solidified his place among the top 3-year-olds with back to back convincing victories.

Swingtown (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) and Prince Hal Hanover (Todd McCarthy) were both put into play entering the first turn. Smooth Dream (Andrew McCarthy) came away in third and watched the pair duel as the Carl Milstein Memorial field entered the backstretch.

Todd McCarthy allowed Swingtown to clear before a blazing first quarter in :25.4. McCarthy was not content to sit in the pocket as he moved Prince Hal Hanover back to the lead entering the far turn for the first time.

“I didn’t want to turn it into a speed duel early,” said Todd McCarthy, driver. “I was keen to re-move to the lead, I just hoped it wasn’t too much on him. We got a cheap half and that helped us out.”

As the field approached the half (:54.3), Smooth Dream was flushed out by Primo Maschio (Trae Porter). Porter then put Primo Maschio back on the rail allowing Twisted Destiny (Dexter Dunn) to move into second over position and Fast Choice (Scott Zeron) was on his back third-over.

Entering the backstretch, Smooth Dream kept on coming, and as they approached the three-quarters in 1:22.4, the stage was set for a duel through the final quarter of a mile.

Around the final turn, Prince Hal Hanover stepped clear of Smooth Dream. Twisted Destiny tipped off cover three-wide, but as they came through the stretch, Prince Hal Hanover’s lead was insurmountable, as he drew off to win by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:50.1.

PRINCE HAL HANOVER REPLAY

Twisted Destiny paced all out, but had to settle for second and Swingtown finished third.

“Prince Hal Hanover is getting better as the season goes, he was very aggressive on me tonight,” said Dr. Ian Moore, trainer. “I wasn’t a huge fan of the fractions and the retake wasn’t that easy either. Todd was able to get a little big of a breather, I was happy about that.”

Owned by Prince Hal Hanover Stable of Ontario, the colt by Captaintreacherous pushed his career earnings to $868,954 with the victory.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From MGM Northfield Park