The Meadows: Manoan impresses in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes romp

Minoan came up just three-fifths of a second shy of the stakes record when he won his $39,725 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes test for 2-year-old male trotters on Saturday afternoon at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in 1:54 4/5 for driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and trainer Noel Daley. Sire Captain Corey won the other two flights with Mr Big Spender and Dublin Hanover.

After speeding out from post two, Minoan led through fractions of 28 2/5, 58 and 1:26 3/5, then polished off his mile with a 28 1/5 final kicker to defeat pocket-sitter Confident Volo (Dave Palone) by 3 3/4 lengths. Jim Beam (Tim Tetrick) finished third.

"He got locked in last week, so today's effort is not a surprise," Daley said following the win. "I was very happy with how relaxed he was today and how he handled everything."

A Bar Hopping colt bred by Dr. Bill Solomon, Minoan is owned by Daley in partnership with Patricia Stable, L. A. Express Stable LLC. and Sjoblom Racing Inc. Minoan broke his maiden in his second try, has now earned $22,862 and paid $5.80 to win.

In the second section Mr Penner (Ake Svanstedt) was on the point at the 28 3/5 quarter, 1:00 1/5 half and 1:29 4/5 three-quarters, but Mr Big Spender (Mike Wilder) angled out of the pocket on the final bend and wore down Mr Penner through the stretch drive en route to winning by half a length in 1:58 1/5. Stormy Seas (Corey Callahan) collected third.

The Kentuckiana Farms-bred Mr Big Spender was sent out by trainer Norm Parker for owners Bart and Todd Brice. Mr Big Spender has a summary of 2-0-1 from three appearances, has put away $35,894 and returned $4.60 to win.

"My family has owned racehorses for a long time. This colt is a lot of fun," Bart Brice said. "He's been a nice colt all along, but the Pocono effort (a 1:54 2/5 win in a Pennsylvania All-Stars race on June 30) was an attention-getter."

According to Brice, the schedule calls for the Arden Down Stakes, also at The Meadows, to be his next start.

Dublin Hanover (Svanstedt) hit the quarter first in 28 2/5 in the last tilt, but Oversear (Charlie Norris) attacked out of fourth in the second quarter and cleared Dublin Hanover before the 57 2/5 half. However, Oversear broke just past that station, putting Dublin Hanover back on top.

From there, Dublin Hanover got to three-quarters in 1:26 2/5 and dug in under heavy urging in the lane to hold off a rallying Highball Hanover (Jeremy Indof) by a nose in a 1:55 3/5 mile. Captain Vodka (Wrenn Jr.) grabbed third.

"He's very green and hasn't quite figured it out," Svanstedt explained as he rushed to make flight connections. "He's talented, so I hope he does."

Svanstedt also trains Dublin Hanover, who was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, and co-owns him with Tomas Andersson and Lennart Johansson. Dublin Hanover won for the first time in his career in his second effort, has banked $23,462 and paid $12 to win.

--quotes/files from the MSOA--