Flamboro: Bulldog Hanover leads the charge in Juravinski Memorial

Sunday's C$273,500 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup will pit nine of the top 4-year-old pacers in training over the tight half-mile track surface at Flamboro Downs.

In one of three preliminary legs on May 15, Bulldog Hanover paced to a 1:49 3/5 track-record effort, just a tick off the all-age mark set by the incomparable Somebeachsomewhere. Bulldog Hanover, a son of Shadow Play, is looking to establish his credentials in 2022 early on for trainer and co-owner Jack Darling.

"He's the best horse I've ever had," said Darling of Bulldog Hanover. "I wasn't surprised with his effort the other day. It was faster than I'd like to have seen him go, but he came out of it fine."

While Bulldog Hanover had raced on a half-mile track before, Darling has already cautioned that he won't again after this Sunday's outing.

"This is the only half-mile track he's staked to this year," said Darling. "He got around it last week, but there were points in the turn he got a bit wobbly."

While the naked eye may have not picked up the mentioned issue that clearly, obviously Bulldog Hanover, driven by Jody Jamieson, had more than enough speed to overcome a small speed bump and marched on effortlessly away from his rivals, scoring by a half-length over favored Lou's Pearlman.

Stepping out with such velocity in the first trip of the year may have been a surprise to some, but Darling was not among those.

"I trained him in 1:55 at Classy Lane," said Darling of the preparation. "Then he qualified in 1:52 [April 30] at Flamboro, so I knew he'd be ready."

In fact, Darling qualified him a second time, a bit slower, a week later over the half-mile track.

A winner in 10 of his 15 starts as a 3-year-old, Bulldog Hanover didn't disappoint his owner even when he lost.

"He went some big miles," said Darling. "Even the North America Cup race he still finished fourth when he didn't race his best."

The favorite heading into the sport's richest race for sophomores, Bulldog Hanover succumbed to upset winner Desperate Man, a horse he'll meet again on Sunday.

"I still go back to try to figure out what happened that night," said Darling of the North America Cup. "I can think of two things that might have made the difference. First, I think he had to go a really tough trip in his elimination. The other thing was that the track was a little cuppy that night, and he doesn't like that kind of surface."

Needless to say, Darling has put the loss behind him and is clearly focused not just on the racing future for Bulldog Hanover but breeding him as well.

"I think he'll breed about 80 horses this year," said Darling, who included that two of the mares are his. "It's worked out pretty well because the facility they take him to for collection is right around the corner."

Bulldog Hanover is expected to complete his stallion duty for the season by the end of this month.

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The focus will be on racing this Sunday night and for Bulldog Hanover it best be given the incredible talent in the nine-horse grouping. Lou's Pearlman and driver Yannick Gingras will start from the pole position, one inside of Bulldog Hanover.

"I like the draw," said Darling, "Anything on the inside is good here."

Lou's Pearlman hails from the Ron Burke stable and was last year's Little Brown Jug champion over the famed half-mile oval in Delaware, Ohio. He had trouble keeping pace with Bulldog Hanover during much of last week's trial but did rally nicely to cut into a large lead by his rival in the stretch. Whether that was Bulldog Hanover in relax-mode or Lou's Pearlman finding another gear is something we'll likely find out this Sunday.

Other elimination winners Rockyroad Hanover (post four) and Desperate Man (post eight) are likely to figure as closers this week, but that is by no means an issue as both came from off-the-pace in their individual elimination races. Rockyroad Hanover was able to avoid a breaking horse on the backstretch, yet still had the composure to storm to victory in a 1:51 mile in what on paper may have been the weakest of the three stanzas. Desperate Man, a son of Shadow Play that shocked many with his North America Cup triumph last September, found the cover trip he needed and catapulted to victory in a 1:50 2/5 mile. Unfortunately for Desperate Man in the final, he's drawn outside as opposed to the rail in his trial.

Desperate Man defeated Linedrive Hanover by just a head in his elimination, and that was the first loss of the year after 10 straight wins for Linedrive Hanover, a son of Betting Line. Linedrive Hanover was used in the early stages in his trial and then had to come from behind Desperate Man in the stretch. For Sunday's final Linedrive Hanover landed post five.

Charlie May entered the Juravinski Memorial as one of the top threats, but the Ohio-sired stalwart faltered on the front-end after absorbing a ton of middle-half pressure in his elimination and faded to third. Charlie May has bounced back in the past and with post three is among the top contenders in the field.

Armor Seelster (post six), Century Heineken (post seven) and Dean B Hanover (post nine) round out the field for the Juravinski Memorial.

Post time for the Sunday program is 6:55 PM.