The one-two finish by Legendary Hanover and Nijinsky in the $650,000 Meadowlands Pace gave trainer Anthony Beaton a milestone only reached on a few occasions before. That Beaton trained the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace winners in the same year with separate horses is amazing, but perhaps the bigger story was in the purchase and development of the pair of standout sophomore pacers. For that one must look towards Casie Coleman, once a full-time conditioner in Ontario with a large stable of racehorses and now more focused in Florida on a smaller stable that purchases yearlings and develops them for stakes action. It was Coleman at the start and there’s no way to get to the end of this dream sequence without looking at its beginnings. “I bought five colts and four fillies,” said Coleman on Sunday following the Meadowlands Pace tour de force. That Nijinsky and Legendary Hanover were among the selection of five colts is astounding, though they did not exactly come cheaply at the sale. Legendary Hanover, who broke the stakes and track mark pacing to a 1:46 3/5 blowout in The Meadowlands Pace, may have been a no-brainer for some at auction given that he was a Huntsville-sired half-brother to one of the fastest horses from Betting Line’s first crop, Linedrive Hanover. That said, Coleman wasn’t all-in when the colt sold at Harrisburg in 2022. “I usually don’t look to race on the New York Sire Stakes circuit,” Coleman said. “So being by Huntsville wasn’t something I was looking for.” What Coleman was looking for was a horse that fit a particular profile with a long barrel, big butt and big throat. “There’s not a particular pedigree or size that I’m looking for,” said Coleman. “I look at every pacer in the sale. I look at them a lot. You can ask some of those who have shown them to me how many times I ask them to walk them back another time. I’m a real pain in the ***.” The extra time Coleman puts in brings her to the sales with a select group of horses but not with an unlimited budget. “With Legendary Hanover we had some partners put together and I had set a limit of $200,000,” said Coleman. Legendary Hanover would eventually be hammered down for $230,000 yet Coleman managed to have the horse to break and train in Florida in the winter of 2022. “Eric Good (co-owner) stepped in after and he signed the ticket for $230,000,” Coleman said. “He deserves the credit for going the distance.” North America Cup winner Nijinsky was among Coleman’s favorites training down as a 2-year-old, but he just couldn’t put things all together when the money was riding. Over the winter Coleman had both colts in Florida and treated them rather specially. “I never put the two of them together in any training sets,” said Coleman, concerned about testing them against each other at any point. “Tony (Beaton) has trained them together since.” Coleman on Sunday hadn’t yet come down from the Meadowlands Pace victory, but she was not surprised with the power Legendary Hanover exhibited on the front end. “I don’t know why people think he can’t do it on the front end,” Coleman said, questioning a theoretical weakness in the colt. “It’s a long season and you just don’t want to have to send them to the front too many times. “Last year in the Breeders Crown was the only time where he raced badly,” said Coleman of Legendary Hanover. “There was a recall and he was all geared up and James (MacDonald) choked him. Other than that he’s never had a bad race.” Given driver Dexter Dunn’s eagerness to pull the pocket at the three-quarter pole with rival Funtime Bayama, one would think he felt Legendary Hanover was vulnerable at the time. A few seconds later Legendary Hanover was airborne and Funtime Bayama was struggling with the rest of the field to keep in contact with the winner. “When Legendary took off in the stretch I was looking and rooting hard for Nijinsky,” said Coleman. “He’d been out the entire way and was still charging late after going wide on the turn.” The Meadowlands Pace one-two finishers left New Jersey on Sunday to return to Ontario and Coleman was relieved. “It’s been extremely hot down here (New Jersey) and even though it’s an eight hour ship I thought it would be better for them to be in more comfortable weather,” said Coleman, who expects to see Nijinsky return to Ontario Gold action on Saturday (July 20) while Legendary Hanover will get at least one week off. Legendary Hanover’s victory in The Meadowlands Pace had him eclipse his sire’s mark in 2017 by more than a full second. Coming into the race this appeared to be a group of five or six colts that could all win. Following the race Legendary Hanover really showed what he is made of. It is races like The Meadowlands Pace where power comes into play, and although James MacDonald didn’t want to find himself in the position Legendary Hanover was at the quarter pole, he had confidence to make an extended move to the lead during the second quarter. Legendary Hanover had the lungs to keep the pace lively through three quarters and the power to finish off his mile in 26 1/5, making a statement on the sport’s biggest stage. Legendary Hanover’s Meadowlands Pace finish will likely help the connections forget the fifth-place finish in the North America Cup, where MacDonald actually found himself in almost the exact same position with Legendary Hanover at the quarter but decided to grind first-over as opposed to brush full throttle. Coleman has been a big part of the Legendary Hanover-Nijinsky story line, but she deferred much of the credit. “Anthony has done a great job. My entire crew in Florida has done a great job. It’s a team effort,” Coleman said. How the sophomore story will play out over the rest of the season is hard to predict. Legendary Hanover and Nijinsky have been fabulous to date and amazingly were the two best horses in The Meadowlands Pace following aggressive miles in the North America Cup. Nijinsky’s Meadowlands Pace elimination victory was hard-earned and perhaps a reason why Louis Philippe Roy elected not to follow Legendary Hanover when that one made an extended move to the lead in the second quarter. It’s also easy to conclude that James MacDonald’s willingness to go all-in with Legendary Hanover in the Meadowlands Pace was the fact that he had gone a rather soft trip in the elimination, just racing the final quarter mile sprint to victory and taking little if no air in the process. As Coleman and her partners watch the sophomores in stakes action the rest of the season and likely to contemplate potential stallion offerings, there are a host of 2-year-olds with similar promise and potential just getting started. “I’m excited about Au Jus Hanover,” said Coleman of the Stay Hungry-sired filly that made a winning debut at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 29 in 1:55 4/5 with a 26 and change final quarter. Au Jus Hanover perhaps best explains Coleman’s pursuit of pacing talent and its lack of a specific formula. The filly is the 13th foal from Always True, a mare that’s best progeny has come by way of sire Bettor’s Delight. A $50,000 Harrisburg purchase, Au Jus Hanover could add some zing to an already incredible year for Coleman and company.