Meadowlands: Bulldog Hanover matches fastest mile in harness racing history

Rockyroad Hanover caught the eye with an impressive 1:46 2/5 performance in the first of two Roll With Joe divisions for open pacers on Saturday night at the Meadowlands, but then Bulldog Hanover raised the stakes and lowered the boom in the other flight, tying the all-time, all-age pacing world record of 1:46.

Bulldog Hanover and Dexter Dunn settled in the pocket behind last year's Dan Patch Award winner Allywag Hanover (Todd McCarthy), who clicked off a 26 2/5 opening quarter in the $99,500 race. Dunn then pulled the trigger two-wide in the backstretch and landed on the point after the 53 4/5 half-mile marker.

There was no getting by Bulldog Hanover from there, as he roared through three-quarters in 1:20 2/5 and then sprinted home in 25 3/5 to match the 1:46 standard set by Always B Miki at The Red Mile and Lather Up at the Meadowlands. Allywag Hanover was a good second, beaten a length and three-quarters, and Abuckabett Hanover (Tim Tetrick) also turned in a solid performance, finishing third after having to do the first-over work.

"I think I was just lucky. We were up in Canada at the time, and he just said to me in the paddock 'will you take him?,' and I said 'hell yeah we'll take him for the month.' We take no credit for him," trainer Noel Daley said about how he ended up with Bulldog Hanover from Canadian-based trainer Jack Darling. "We got him 48 hours before his first start. We've done nothing with him. He hardly trains, but they don't need to when they go that quick. Dexter said it took him half a mile to pull him up there tonight after the race.

"I believe I've only got him two more starts here, and then he'll go back to Jack. I think he'll race in the Canadian Pacing Derby and then I think they'll race him at Hoosier, but they'll do all that. I might end up with him if he goes to Kentucky for the one race because we're out there. Jack doesn't cross the border too often, but we're quite happy to have anything he sends down. It's been ten years since he sent me one, but this one's sort of special."

Darling also co-owns Bulldog Hanover, a 4-year-old son of Shadow Play, with partner Brad Grant. This was his 19th win from 27 career starts, and he has now earned $919,517. He paid $2.40 to win as the 1-5 favorite.

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Back in the first $98,000 grouping, Workin Ona Mystery (Tetrick) clicked off fractions of 26, 53 3/5, and 1:20 4/5, with Charlie May (David Miller) going first-up from fourth past the half and Rockyroad Hanover (Todd McCarthy) right on Miller's helmet in the second-over position. McCarthy cut Rockyroad Hanover loose in the stretch, and he blasted home in 25 seconds to take the lead and then pull away to score by 2 3/4 lengths. Charlie May and Workin Ona Mystery were second and third.

"I felt like I had a lot of horse. I knew it was going to be a pretty big mile," McCarthy said. "[Charlie May]'s a very hard horse to get past, but my guy had a lot of sprint left in the stretch, so he finished really strong."

Tony Alagna trains Rockyroad Hanover, a 4-year-old by Captaintreacherous, for owner M3 Racing Stable. He has compiled a record of 8-3-6 from 31 lifetime tries, and he pushed his bankroll to $679,572. He was the 6-5 choice and returned $4.60 to win.