A DQ and a dazzler included in Pace night reactions

by Brett Sturman

For the second time in four years, the Meadowlands Pace resulted in the disqualification of the horse first past the wire, and that’s what the night will be remembered most for, although the night was full of other memorable performances, including a new world record.

There’s not a need for full throttled weigh-in after many others have already expressed their views on various social media, and most readers of this column will already know where I stand. In summary, just as I would have done with What The Hill in the 2017 Hambletonian and with Charlie May in the 2021 Pace, I would have let the original results stand as is with Prince Hal Hanover, the winner. In a poll taken on X by user @polarcritter with 58 votes to date, 57 per cent agreed with the disqualification, 26 per cent did not, and 17 per cent didn’t have an opinion.

It’s the minority view, but simply stated, I didn’t feel the alleged interference from Prince Hal Hanover was as egregious as some have made it out to be. That said, I’m more indifferent about this disqualification than the prior two mentioned because in this case it’s entirely possible that without confusion around being impeded, Madden Oaks could have very well crossed the line first. In those other instances, horses were placed first as indirect beneficiaries.

An interesting vantage point comes directly from driver Boyd’s line of sight where just as it was in the North America Cup, his Pace drive with Madden Oaks was captured through a driver-cam set up by industry photographer Jessica Hallett. As opposed to the distant head-on view used by judges, the Hallett video puts the viewer directly in the seat of Boyd.

In this example, I don’t think it would lead to a different conclusion than what the head-on provided, but it does raise the question, why not make driver cameras mandatory, where they can be used as an additional view that judges can utilize while making decisions? There’s no better way to see in those split seconds what drivers encounter, how much room they have, and how they react. I would be all for such an innovation.

Seemingly lost in the disqualification is that Madden Oaks somehow went off at odds nearing 7-1. He was rated 5-2 on the morning line which I referred to inlast Friday’s column as “deserved,” and in that same column wondered if the morning-line favoritism would hold to post time favoritism between he and more well-known connections. But nowhere in my wildest imagination did I think Madden Oaks would drift up to a win mutuel of $15.20. That he was the fifth wagering choice in a field of nine ahead of only the horses without a realistic chance does go to show that the smart money isn’t always right, although credit to Prince Hal Hanover who was raced as a valiant favorite. Handle for the 14-race Pace card was $5.1 million on the nose, comparable to last year’s Pace card which handled a little over $5.1 million with the same number of races.

The performance of the night goes unquestionably to Elista Hanover. I referenced on Friday the absolute remarkable trip she went last out in the Graduate which really was one for the ages, and she may have even topped that in Saturday’s E.T. Gerry, Jr. Hambletonian Maturity. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who took notice of her prior race, as she was bet down from a programmed line of 5-1 all the way to 7-5, and in a field of 13 no less!

In the race, she took a long time to make the lead through a (straightaway-aided) opening quarter of :25.1, yielded to Private Access, was on the move again with a retake through :54.1, took pressure from another Blais trainee in Drawn Impression, kept on rolling through a mile rate that went in 1:49.3 and finished off the mile and an eighth race in a time of 2:03 flat. For perspective, the stakes record was 2:04.1 set in 2015 by JL Cruze and in 2022 by Bella Bellini. More often than not, as was the case last year, the race goes in over 2:05.

Elista Hanover first and Warrawee Michelle second reversed the top 2 order of finish from the prior week in the Graduate. But this time, rather than being 15-1 and 13-1 longshots, they completed the exacta as the 7-5 favorite and 3-1 third choice. The odds certainly had this raced pegged despite the 13-horse field size.

Trained by Annie Stoebe, Elista Hanover wasn’t the only notable this weekend from the barn. Stoebe also sent out a 2-year-old winner on Friday named Diabolic Hill in 1:54.4, who has now started his career impressively at two-for-two and has me wondering if it’s too early to start thinking about Hambletonian 2026. He was a $300,000 yearling from Lexington last year whose second dam produced 2-year-old champion Crys Dream.

Onto this year’s Hambletonian contenders, the two Stanley Dancer Memorial divisions from Saturday went mainly to form and perhaps the most intriguing question right now will be which horse does Dexter Dunn ultimately drive in two weeks – Super Chapter or Maryland?

A hint could have come three races ago in the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon where that exact scenario occurred, and in that race, Dunn opted for last year’s divisional champion Maryland over Super Chapter. The amazing thing is what was the case then and is still the case now, Super Chapter hasn’t lost yet this year and Maryland hasn’t won. But obviously that doesn’t tell the full story.

I still get the sense that Super Chapter has been in tactically better race spots than Maryland, save for the Dancer when Maryland was placed up front and wouldn’t give up in a stretch long duel with the horse whom I proclaimed last week as my favorite, Go Dog Go. Both Maryland and Super Chapter are in the Melander barn, so Dunn’s decision truly will come down to the horse without having to consider who the trainer is.

On the trotting filly side, Yo Tillie kept her perfect seasonal streak intact while hammered all the way down to 1-9 and jogged in 1:51 flat as the only one in her Del Miller Memorial division that’s not Hambletonian Oaks eligible, much to the pleasure of all the others that are. In the other Del Miller, What A Bid Hanover re-established herself as perhaps the Oaks favorite when wearing down a stubborn R Dutchess.

There were surprises in both splits of the William Haughton Memorial. Oakwood Ardan IR and Maximus Miki both won Meadowlands open’s two weeks apart in June, and on Saturday paid $67.80 and $31.20, respectively. In the Maximus Miki win at 14-1, the second, third and fourth finishers were odds of 99-1, 27-1 and 23-1. The $1 trifecta paid $16k, but the $1 superfecta would have only paid $24k (it was $2,400 for a dime). It goes to show how much these 10-cent wagers can dilute the payoffs, where it’s hard to imagine there were approximately 15 separate 10-cent winning tickets with horses of those odds in an 11-horse field.