Donato Hanover cruises

The Takter factor was evident in two of the four divisions of the $316,000 International Stallion Stake (ISS) for 2-year-old colt trotters, but it was Donato Hanover who finished it off in fine fashion when he captured the last split with a dominant 1:57.2 effort over Great Success and Snowboarder. The quartet of races were part of the action of the Thursday afternoon program at The Red Mile.

Donato Hanover, who has now won six of seven starts including the Peter Haughton Memorial, was driven by Ron Pierce. The son of Andover Hall is trained by Steve Elliott and owned by David Scharf, Golden Touch Stable and Steven Arnold. Elliott said afterward next up for the winner of more than $350,000 will be the Breeders Crown.

Trainer Jimmy Takter had the winners of the opening two ISS splits, with Milton Zet scoring in 1:56.1 in the card's opener over a track deemed "good" at the time, followed by Quite Easy in 1:56.4 over a "fast" track. John Campbell was aboard both winners.

Campbell worked out a second-over trip with Milton Zet before tipping wide at the top of the stretch and going on to the win over Operation Lindy and Edgestone Hanover. The son of Pine Chip is owned by Brixton Medical Ab. It was Milton Zet's first win in eight attempts.

Steve Smith popped the pocket with Monkey Bones at the top of the stretch and went on to a 1:59 win in the third ISS division. Xactly Hanover was second with Southwind Breeze third. A son of Andover Hall, Monkey Bones is owned by R. Gary Stetson. The win was his third in eight starts, equaling his career mark set in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes leg at Pocono Downs.

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