Breeders Crown: Ocean Rock knocks off favorites in Open Pace final

Ocean Rock left hard, yielded to Allywag Hanover, forged his way by that rival in deep stretch, and then held off a closing Cattlewash to take the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace final at the Meadowlands in 1:48 3/5.

Driven by Dan Noble and sent off at odds of 16-1, Ocean Rock pushed past Cattlewash (David Miller) coming to the fast 25 4/5 opening quarter, but Allywag Hanover (Todd McCarthy), who had blasted out from post eight, moved up on the outside to take the top spot away from Ocean Rock in the second quarter.

Allywag Hanover faced no outside pressure through middle-half fractions of 53 2/5 and 1:21 1/5 and brought the field into the lane, but Noble cut Ocean Rock loose off the cones and began to close in. Inside the final eighth Ocean Rock went by Allywag Hanover, and although Cattlewash made up ground after swinging to Ocean Rock's outside, his bid was too late, falling short by about a quarter of a length. Allywag Hanover had to settle for third, Enavant (Bob McClure) was fourth, and Catch The Fire (Scott Zeron) collected fifth.

"We figured we'd better just take the bye. That way he had one easy week going into it. He's a lot better off of a two-week layoff, and we were just hoping that would work out," Dan Noble said of skipping last week's elimination. "I was very happy with the position I was in. It was very good. I had a lot of pace there. I was just trying not to be anxious and move early.

"They're all great horses, and it's tough to get by good horses. Of course he's a good horse."

Dan's wife Christi trains Ocean Rock, a 4-year-old gelding by Rockin Amadeus, for owner/breeder Sandra Burnett. This was his 19th career win, and he has now pocketed $1,209,522.

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"I'm glad that we finally got this opportunity this year since we didn't get so much of it as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old," remarked Christi Noble, who added that Ocean Rock could race in the TVG final next month or head to the field for some downtime. "He can really go to these big dances and be competitive."

Todd McCarthy offered of Allywag Hanover's performance, "I thought he raced super. We just had to do a little bit too much early. A bunch left and there was a little speed, so that first half was pretty steep for him. Usually, these last ones when I've left with him, he's kind of been there by the turn.

"Just having to do that little bit more today, I was a little wary of that and I was worried it was going to take a toll on him late. But he hung in there like a champion, and he fought all the way to the wire. I couldn't be happier with his performance. He was trying his heart out, but we had a good group following us today."

CROWN BETTING BIG: Wagering on the eight Breeders Crown Finals was spirited throughout the day, as at least $316,162 was bet on each race. The largest single-race total was the $457,657 pushed through the windows on the dramatic showdown between Perfect Sting and Charlie May in the 3-year-old colts and geldings pace. Total wagering on the eight Crown races was $2,972,101, good for an average of $371,512 per dash. Including the five overnight events, total betting on the 13-race card was $4,121,379.

--McCarthy quote courtesy of Ken Weingartner/Handle details courtesy of the Meadowlands--