Frosh gear up for finals

Sutter Hanover, possessing the fire of the dragon within him, rates as one of the favorites in Saturday night’s $450,000 Governor’s Cup at the Meadowlands. "I've never had a bad Dragon Again,” said trainer Mark Harder, referring to the sire of Sutter Hanover. “They've all done well--good attitude, good gaited."

Sutter Hanover has already banked more than $101,000 with four wins, three seconds and one third from 11 starts. He was fourth in the $600,000 Breeders Crown final on Oct. 28 and second by a neck in his Governor’s Cup elimination race last week.

"I'm happy with him now,” Harder noted. “This is a colt who we took our time with early on. He had some OCDs (bone chips) in a back ankle, so we started late with him. To be perfectly honest with you, I thought he'd do a little better early on. It wound up taking him half a dozen starts to start to show the ability I knew he had. I've liked him all along, ever since we got him at Harrisburg as a yearling."

Sutter Hanover was a $20,000 yearling purchase for the partnership of Deena Frost, Sampson Street Stable, Fox Hollow Farm, and TLP Stable.

The colt won his Breeders Crown elimination in a swift 1:50.4 at Woodbine but came up short in the final.

"I was a little disappointed in him in the final,” Harder conceded. “I went in expecting to win if we got the right trip. The way it worked out, we got shuffled some, and he was closing well, real well, for fourth."

There is still room for improvement in Sutter Hanover which Harder expects will blossom next year.

"He's laid back,” he noted. “He'd go two minutes out there if you let him. It's probably helped him develop. He doesn't have that killer instinct--at least not yet. Maybe at three he'll develop it. I think this colt is going to be a real good 3 year old."

Pandoras Sox will have the rail and the services of Yannick Gingras in Saturday night’s $450,000 Governor’s Cup for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings. A homebred owned by Michele and Peter Blaso of Allentown, N.J., the son of The Panderosa–So Bright has finished in the money in seven of 12 starts, banking $174,496.

“When we first brought him in, he was wild, not with people, but when around other horses,” said Ellie Sarama, who trains the pacer in partnership with her husband, Joseph Poliseno. “On the track he was very studdy. Joey gave him every chance to change, but his mind was certainly on other things. After four weeks, he was castrated and it took nearly six weeks for him to behave. But after that, when he hit the pace, we knew he was very special. He did everything right from there to the races. He stayed healthy and sound during a very long season.

“He's perfectly gaited and has the manners of an aged race horse. Leave, sit, come from off the pace, whatever you want him to do he does. He's an absolute prince to be around and very spoiled. He loves people and his personality is just amazing.

“He finally got some racing luck (in the Bluegrass) and a decent post and a great drive by David (Miller),” Sarama noted. “Most of his races were bad posts or bad racing luck. The Woodrow and Metro final, he drew post nine. The Metro, he just hated the wind and rain and got away near the back, completely out of the race, but still gave full effort in the stretch to finish fifth. In the Breeders Crown, he left hard (in) :25.4 and than got stuck behind Whatahotshot and just got out too late, so he missed the final. The Matron was basically the same. He was parked nearly the entire mile in the elim and finished second, and in the final he was backed through the field by Takeshigemichi. He had so much pace that when David tried to get out, he hit his wheel and nearly went down. So yes, lot's of bad racing luck and still banked $174,000.

“He's staked to pretty much everything at three,” added Sarama, who is a racing commentator as well as conditioner. “He's as slick gaited as they come so he should have no problem with any size track. After the final, we'll bring him home to our farm and give him probably 10 to 12 weeks to just rest and have some fun. We're turning out a very sound, healthy and happy colt. It'll give him a chance to grow and fill out, and we're really looking forward to his 3-year-old season.” (Meadowlands)

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