Salutation Hanover wins at Pocono

Salutation Hanover, driven by Matt Kakaley and trained by Ron Burke, won the $28,000 open handicap trot Tuesday (April 13) night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

Kakaley caught a break in the race when Vivid Photo (Yannick Gingras) went on a break near the five-eighths pole. Kakaley was second over behind Impressive Earl (George Napolitano Jr.) with Grain Of Truth (Ray Schnittker) taking the nine-horse field to the half in 57.1 after Vivid Photo was the leader at the opening split in 27.3.

The breaking Vivid Photo, who didn’t finish the race, scattered some horses and Kakaley took to the inside to follow Grain Of Truth. At the top of the lane, Kakaley took to the passing lane and won by a length and one-quarter with Impressive Earl some four and three-quarter lengths back.

Time of the mile was 1:54.3. This marked the second win in six starts in 2010 for Salutation Hanover with two seconds and a third.

In last week’s open handicap trot, it was Grain Of Truth taking to the passing lane to win by a nose over Vivid Photo, eighth-year-old gelding and former Hambletonian winner who was hurting and examined by a state veterinarian following the race Tuesday evening after going off stride.

After collecting nine wins Saturday evening, Napolitano Jr. had four victories through 11 races of the 15-race card Tuesday. (Pocono)