Meadowlands: A 'Legendary' performance in Pace final

Legendary Hanover marched to the front with a big brush in the backstretch and never stopped pouring on the speed from there, winning Saturday night's $650,000 Meadowlands Pace final for 3-year-old colts and geldings at the Meadowlands in a track and stakes record 1:46 3/5. Trainer Tony Beaton finished first and second, with Legendary Hanover coming in well ahead of stablemate and Pepsi North America Cup champion Nijinsky.

Driven by James MacDonald, who ended a 37-year drought of Canadian-based drivers not winning the Pace, Legendary Hanover got away in the fifth spot from post six as Captain Luke (Scott Zeron) blasted to the top from post eight before yielding control to a two-wide Funtime Bayama (Dexter Dunn) past that point. After Funtime Bayama hit the front, MacDonald attacked with Legendary Hanover and moved by Funtime Bayama beyond the 53 2/5 half-mile station.

On the final bend Legendary Hanover continued to show the way, but Funtime Bayama came off the pylons prior to the 1:20 2/5 three-quarters, giving cover to Nijinsky (Louis Roy). It didn't matter, though, as Legendary Hanover moved away from the rest of the field through the lane, using a 26 1/5 final quarter to widen and tally by 5 1/2 lengths. Nijinsky got the better of Gem Quality (Yannick Gingras) for second, followed by Captain Luke and Captain's Quarters (Jody Jamieson).

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"I ended up in the exact spot I didn't want to end up in, but the horse really solidified last week what he was and what we always thought he was," remarked MacDonald. "He's so powerful. He moves like a sprinter, but he can carry it forever.

"I took a shot. Dex, I figured he would make front and want to cut it, and he did, but my horse just came with such a rush. The second he touched down, it wasn't like, 'oh jeez I hope he keeps going or these are hot fractions,' I was like 'it's over.' He was so strong and swelled up on the bit. He's an amazing animal. I'm just happy to be along for the ride."

Beaton trains Legendary Hanover, a Huntsville colt bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, for owners Eric Good, Thomas Biederman, Josh Green and Rich Lombardo Racing LLC. This was his 10th win from 18 lifetime starts, he has now earned $1,022,751 and he paid $6.00 to win as the second choice.

"I'm just glad James took the shot when he did and dropped down on the front, and the horse did the rest," Beaton offered. "He's a big, strong, rugged horse, and he's shown in the past that he can tough it out a little bit. He's gone some tough trips all year, other than last week when he got a nice trip. That bravened him right up, and he was awesome tonight.

"We're just happy to win whether it's the fastest, the slowest, whatever, as long as the checks keep coming in."