Meadowlands: Hannelore Hanover triumphant again in TVG final

Hannelore Hanover rocketed home in 26 2/5 off a two-hole trip to win the $175,000 TVG Mares Trot final on Saturday night at the Meadowlands in 1:52 3/5, adding to her case for Horse of the Year.

Driven by Yannick Gingras, Hannelore Hanover started from the outside post four in the small field, and she would land in the pocket behind Emoticon Hanover (Daniel Dube), who chopped out fractions of 27 1/5, 56 2/5, and 1:26. Gingras edged Hannelore Hanover to the outside before they turned into the stretch, and she would power by Emoticon Hanover on her way to a two length victory. Emoticon Hanover did wind up second, with Caprice Hill (Doug McNair) and Barn Doll (Jeff Gregory) rounding out the order.

Gingras declined to answer when asked who deserves Horse of the Year honors among Hannelore Hanover, Ariana G, and Manchego (he is the regular driver of all of them), but he did say, "I love all three of them. All three of them are really, really special and all three are very deserving. I just wanted to do my job and get them to the end of the year without a loss. At this point it's up to the voters to do their job.

"She's definitely versatile. I've said all along she's probably better from the back than she is on the front, but you're 1-9 a lot of times and the front is the place to be. I was definitely content to sit in the two-hole tonight. She's a big powerhouse, and she can do it any which way. When she's on her game like she was tonight, she's really, really tough to beat."

Hannelore Hanover, a 5-year-old daughter of Swan For All, is trained by Ron Burke for the ownership group of Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC., Frank Baldachino, and J And T Silva Stables LLC. This was Hannelore Hanover's 36th career victory, and she has now earned $2,465,064. The 1-5 favorite, Hannelore Hanover paid $2.40 to win.

After beating both the best mares and males in North America this season, could a European try be next for Hannelore Hanover? Gingras hopes so.

"That's my dream for her, no doubt about it," he remarked. "I've been trying to talk Ronnie into it since last year. I think she'd stack up really good. I think Ronnie's leaning towards maybe trying it this time. She raced barefoot in Lexington, and she could not have been any better obviously - 1:49 2/5. If she goes to Sweden, obviously she would race barefoot. I think having that experience under her belt and knowing that she can handle it, maybe for him he leans for going maybe. Obviously it's a long way from now. She has to stay healthy, and a lot of things have to go right before we even think about that."