Meadowlands: Marloe Hanover gritty in Kindergarten Classic Series victory

Marloe Hanover, coming in off a third-place finish in the Breeders Crown where she just missed winning by a neck, was a determined 1:50 3/5 winner of the $192,500 Kindergarten Classic Series final for juvenile pacing fillies on Saturday night at the Meadowlands.

Starting from post eight, Marloe Hanover (David Miller) drove on on the outside and came up to wrestle command away from Hen Party (Yannick Gingras) past the 27 1/5 opening quarter. After taking charge, Marloe Hanover would go on to hit the half in 55 4/5 and the three-quarters in 1:23 3/5. Race favorite Rocknificent (Tim Tetrick) pulled first-over out of third going to three-quarters and loomed boldly as they turned for home.

In the stretch Marloe Hanover was able to resist Rocknificent's bid and maintained the advantage, but then Hen Party found racing room to the inside and also came to challenge. Marloe Hanover dug in and fought off Hen Party's try too, though, winning by a neck. Hen Party was the runner-up, Rocknificent was third, and Sail By (Andrew McCarthy) collected third.

"We've had a good little roll here the last month or so. It's been good," said winning trainer Richard "Nifty" Norman. "She's rock-solid. She's never gone a bad race, I think. She just puts in a good effort every time and a very good effort tonight, tough. She was kind of unlucky last week in the Breeders Crown. She had a lot of pace, split horses there, and only got beat a head for the whole thing really. Tonight was kind of deserved.

"I'll have to talk to some of the partners there and see what they say (about racing again this season). I'm not the boss there."

A daughter of Captaintreacherous, Marloe Hanover is owned by Pinske Stables, David Hoese, and Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky. Marloe Hanover, who was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. and fetched $47,000 at the 2018 Standardbred Horse Sale, now has a record of 3-3-4 from 11 tries, and she has pocketed $294,078. She was the 5-2 second choice and returned $7.40 to win.

Marloe Hanover is the second foal out of the Sportswriter mare Mesmerize Bluechip (1:55, $12,306), a half-sister to the likes of the Art Major gelding Master Stroke (1:49 4/5, $469,598).