Meadowlands: Gingras drives a powerful pair in Saturday stakes

Yannick Gingras is in an enviable position on Saturday night as stakes season kicks off at The Meadowlands. With first call for the powerful Ron Burke stable, Gingras’ stature has risen dramatically in the last decade. On Saturday he will be sitting behind two horses likely to be among the most dominant in the aged ranks. First and foremost, defending Horse of the Year Hannelore Hanover will commence her 2018 campaign in the $182,500 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial Trot. The now 6-year-old daughter of Swan For All drew post 12 in the second tier of the mile and one eighth contest. Gingras also will guide the 4-year-old Filibuster Hanover in one $50,000 Graduate division.

Fortunately for Gingras he was able to sit behind both horses in qualifying races the past few weeks. “Hannelore Hanover did what we wanted her to do,” said Gingras of the mare who last raced in November, a sparkling 1:52 3/5 victory in the TVG Mare final at The Meadowlands.

“We tried to get some speed into her,” said Gingras of the qualifiers that saw Hannelore Hanover win in 1:53 2/5 on April 21 and come back a week later with a 1:52 2/5 clocking.

Still qualifiers can only do so much to get a horse battle ready and Hannelore Hanover will have 11 male rivals as well as a second tier spot in her debut. “Sure I’d rather have the three, four or five than the second tier,” said Gingras,” But that’s where we’ll start from.”

What Hannelore Hanover must overcome primarily is a field of more seasoned opposition in the Cutler. Trainer Julie Miller sends out Sutton, a 1:51 3/5 winner already this year. The 5-year-old by Donato Hanover landed post three and will be looking for his third win in his fourth start of 2018. Sutton, who will be driven by Andy Miller, starts from post three.

Trainer Jeff Gillis brought the 5-year-old Will Take Charge to the Metro area last month to acclimate. Will Take Charge captured a Preferred Handicap at Yonkers on April 21 in 1:56 1/5. That was his fourth win in eight starts this season. Will Take Charge drew post four.

Another Canadian invader in the Cutler is the Luc Blais-trained Warrawee Roo. The son of Majestic Son enters the Cutler following a 1:53 3/5 victory in Preferred company at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Warrawee Roo drew post nine.

While Hannelore Hanover more than made a name for herself in 2017, Filibuster Hanover spent much of the year as an also-ran to the dynamic Brian Brown duo of Fear The Dragon and Downbytheseaside. With those two off to stallion duty, Filibuster Hanover returns to action and could find himself atop the 4-year-old division.

“When he was training down as a 2-year-old Ronnie (Burke) and I both thought he was the best colt,” said Gingras. “They had to geld him and that helped a little bit, but it took some time for him to learn how to be a racehorse.”

The advancement of Filibuster Hanover came in a major way last fall and appears likely to carry over into 2018.

“We wanted to go a little bit more last week,” said Gingras of the plans for qualifying Filibuster Hanover. “The track was very fast and he was very good.”

Perhaps that’s a bit of an understatement considering that Filibuster Hanover scored in 1:49 3/5 with a final quarter clocked in 25 2/5.

“A lot of these horses have already been racing and its tough to come out first time against horses with a lot of races under their belt,” said Gingras.

Fortunately for the driver, Filibuster Hanover drew post 2 in the first $50,000 Graduate division (race 6) with the more seasoned and dangerous foes in the field landing posts 9 and 10 respectively. Highalator (post 9) and Western Joe (post 10) have looked like budding stars over the winter and early spring but that experience may be compromised in this group. Nonetheless, with the 11-horse field necessitating the race to go at a mile and one eighth distance, each will have ample opportunity to sprint before the first turn.

A dozen horses go in the wide-open second Graduate division, race nine on the program, with Gingras behind Lawrencetown Beach (post 7).