Broad Bahn - 2011
Broad Bahn (George Brennan) went wire-to-wire without a serious challenge to win the $1.5 million Hambletonian for 3-year-old trotters on Saturday (August 6) at the Meadowlands in 1:53 by 3-1/2 lengths.
Broad Bahn is trained by Noel Daley, and owned by Leif Alber of Copenhagen. It was the first Hambletonian victory for all of the connections. Broad Bahn set all the fractions, trailed by Whiskey Tax (Randy Waples), at the :27.1. quarter, the :56 half and the 1:23.4 three-quarters.
When the field turned for home, the favored Manofmanymissions (Andy Miller) came up alongside briefly to challenge, but got rough gaited in mid-stretch and then made a break.
Whiskey Tax continued along the rail behind Broad Bahn to be second and Opening Night (John Campbell) crossed the wire in third. Chapter Seven (Mike Lachance) was fourth and Pastor Stephen (Ron Pierce) was fifth. Manofmanymissions wound up eighth.
"I slapped him on the butt to get him out of there and I said to him in the stretch, 'I did my job, now it's all up to you,'" said George Brennan. "When Andy (Miller) came alongside me (with Manofmanymissions) I asked him for trot and he had it. He was on his toes.
"He was really good today. When Noel came off the track (after warming him up) he said he was awesome and he couldn't have been more right. Noel is one of my better friends, we hang out a lot. I am at a loss for words."
Brennan, who won the Hambletonian Oaks a race earlier with Bold And Fresh, became only the second driver to win the Oaks and Hambo in the same year; Brian Sears did it with Broadway Schooner and Muscle Hill in 2009.
"He doesn't have to be lucky when you can do it on the front end, that helps," said Daley. "For a big race I was really confident, we had a great run, no sickness, no problems, nothing."
"Every horse that took the front end got beat today," said Ole Bach, speaking for Danish owner Leif Alber, a real estate developer. "I didn't dare tell him (Alber). When I saw the :56 (half) I said, 'Thank God.' The Hambletonian people couldn't have picked it any better on the buttons they gave us -- he's like a big steam engine.
"This is a life altering experience for his (Alber's) family; we picked this yearling out for $20,000 (at the Standardbred Horse Sale at Harrisburg) and here we are winning a $1.5 million race."
