Badlands Hanover - 2CP
bay colt, by Western Hanover – Behave Hanover, by Tyler B
Owner
John Celii
Fifteen freshman pacing colts entered the Breeders Crown at Colonial Downs, including three who had never tasted defeat in their young lives.
In the first elimination, Grinfromeartoear, the Woodrow Wilson and Metro Pace winner, had a slate reading six for six. The son of Artsplace had also earned $730,175, under the services of red-hot Luc Ouellette, and was taking dead aim on divisional honors. He was matched against an unbeaten The Panderosa, with five wins in five starts, who had taken the road less traveled. Trainer Brett Pelling didn’t even qualify The Panderosa till August and planned to race him about eight times. His plan was to have The Panderosa in peak form for the Breeders Crown and Governors Cup.
The extremely fast Falcon’s Icon headed up the other elimination. An early starter, he’d won 10 races in 10 starts and more than $300,000 for the team of trainer Kelvin Harrison and owner Joe Alflen. The pair had been in a similar situation with Direct Flight in 1991; that colt galloped in the final as the favorite. Falcon’s Icon counted the Smullin, Babic and New Jersey Futurity among his wins.
Things did not go his way however, and driver George Brennan encountered traffic problems with his headstrong colt and finished out of the money, a shocking development that was about to be repeated. Instead, Island Fantasy recorded his eighth win in 14 starts for owner Bob Waxman and trainer Bob MacIntosh.
Grinfromeartoear was clearly off his form, as he was able to manage an easy trip but faded to finish sixth behind Badlands Hanover, who streaked past The Panderosa to score in 1 :52. Both Grinfromeartoear and Falcon’s Icon were out of the rich final and The Panderosa had experienced his first loss.
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | Ron Pierce
Badlands Hanover drew post two for the final, contested on a wet and dreary Virginia night. Paul McDonell sent Ft. Apache Hanover rushing to the front from post six and Pierce quickly settled Badlands Hanover into second. Shortly past the :27 first quarter, Badlands Hanover was tipped to the outside, and with a quick rush, seized the lead. Moving through a half in :54.1 and three-quarters in 1:22, Badlands Hanover opened up a two-length gap over the field.
Lachance, behind Island Fantasy, moved up into position on the outside, but as the field headed into the stretch, he ducked in behind the pacesetter. From there all Lachance could do was to chase Badlands Hanover to the wire, missing by two and a half-lengths. Ft. Apache Hanover gave a good account of himself, coming back on a bit to just miss catching Island Fantasy for third.
The Crown championship for Badlands Hanover meant he’d tied the record as the fastest freshman performer in the sport with his 1:50 mile. Owner John Celii and trainer Joe Holloway watched in awe as their charge sent his earnings past the $500,000 mark.
Holloway earned his fifth Breeders Crown trophy thanks to Badlands Hanover, who was a $105,000 yearling purchase at Harrisburg for Celii. From the Hanover Shoe Farms consignment, Badlands Hanover gives the farm its 11th Breeders Crown championship, and maintians its position atop the earnings board with more than $5.5 million in Crown dollars.
Most of the top freshman contenders went on to race in the Governors Cup, where Island Fantasy emerged victorious after an inquiry involving The Panderosa and Badlands Hanover. The ivisional champion selected from this stellar group of youngsters was Island Fantasy, who displayed a marvelous consistency and closed out the season on a winning note.
Purse $551,700
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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