So Long Hanover says goodbye to the field

CHESTER, PA – So Long Hanover said so long to his opposition early in the $14,400 trotting harness racing feature on a special Kentucky Derby Day Saturday afternoon card at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

Driver Pat Berry got the Donato Hanover gelding away quickly and put up fractions of :28.2, :58.2, and 1:27.3, with Bountiful Brittney, winner of three of her last four, right behind him.

However, the pocketsitting mare could make no dent into the winner’s advantage, as he scored by 1½ lengths in 1:56.3 for his new connections, who got him after his last start – trainer Scott Di Domenico and owners Bottom Line Racing LLC and Triple D Stables Inc.

SO LONG HANOVER REPLAY

A pair of $12,600 co-featured events saw a division on each gait. On the trot, the Bar Hopping sophomore gelding Inaminute Hanover won his second straight local start, here sweeping to the lead nearing the three-quarters and going on to post a lifetime best of 1:56.3. The three-year-old’s connections are quite interesting – driver Bob McClure, trainer Luc Blais, and owner Determination, the same combination that brought out 2019 Hambletonian winner Forbidden Trade.

On the pacing side, the Artspeak three-year-old Terry A Hanover employed almost identical tactics to Inaminute Hanover for driver Todd Schadel – brush to the lead late on the backstretch and go on to post a lifetime mark, 1:53.3. Todd also trains the three-time seasonal winner, the 2020 PA Fairs Champion for his division, for Christine Schadel and Caitlin Solt.

Ontario newcomer Doug McNair posted a driving double for the second straight day, and was joined on Derby Day by Corey Callahan in doubling.

Sunday’s 12:40 card will gather together top pacers of both sexes to contest $22,500 each: a race for the female set with Soho Burning Love A favored despite being assigned the outside post seven; and an event for the males where Shnitzledosomethin, a winner from post seven (the toughest post to win from at the track) last week, draws post five (the winningest starting spot) on Sunday. Program pages will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.

For full race results, click here.

From the PHHA/Harrah’s Philadelphia