Red Mile: Record miles by Allywag Hanover, Rocknificent in Allerage Paces

Allywag Hanover matched Dr. J Hanover's world record for a 4-year-old gelding pacer of 1:46 4/5 in the $158,000 Allerage Farms Open Pace, and Rocknificent lowered the track record to 1:48 in the $73,500 Allerage Farms Open Mare Pace on Sunday afternoon at The Red Mile.

The Allerage Farms Open Pace was a wild affair from the get-go. Driver Todd McCarthy launched Allywag Hanover to the point from post nine in a 25 4/5 opening quarter, but Nicholas Beach (Joe Bongiorno) didn't want the pocket and moved around Allywag Hanover past that marker. The red-hot Ocean Rock (Dan Noble) then pulled the trigger out of third, and he forged his way around Nicholas Beach after a wicked 51 3/5 half.

On the far turn Ocean Rock had to deal with a first-over attack from Ruthless Hanover (Andrew McCarthy), which he was able to do to the 1:19 1/5 three-quarters and into the lane. Meanwhile, Allywag Hanover had elected to sit in, got shuffled back, and was hoping to get room in the stretch drive.

In the lane Allywag Hanover angled out to get around a fading Nicholas Beach and then back to the inside of Ocean Rock. Once he had that space, Allywag Hanover exploded and took command. From there he paced away from the rest of the field on his way to winning by 2 1/2 lengths. This Is The Plan rallied from fifth to second in the last quarter, and Catch The Fire (Scott Zeron) advanced from sixth to third in the final panel.

"I was praying for a bit of daylight there at the top of the stretch. We had to do a bit of manuvering, but it worked out. He hit the line so good," said Todd McCarthy. "I was just worried about getting at the time. I'm certainly glad we did, and as we got down to the wire, I saw the clock, and I knew it was going to be something special."

Brett Pelling trains Allywag Hanover, a gelding by Captaintreacherous, for owner Allywag Stable. Allywag Hanover made his 17th appearance in the winner's circle, and he has now earned $939,938. He paid $5.60 to win as the favorite.

"The horse has just got great form right now. He's loving it. He's just doing great. That was an awesome race. When they're mixing it up like that, that wasn't your normal race. Everyone I'm sure was on the edge of their seat. That was pretty awesome," stated Pelling. "I just didn't want him on the outside on the last turn. That's always been my instructions. He comes through with authority now, which is awesome. He was powering through there at any time, no matter what. It could have been later, and he was going through."

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The Allerage Farms Open Mare Pace saw Rocknificent (Scott Zeron) wrestle command away from JK First Lady (Yannick Gingras) passing a 27 4/5 opening quarter. Peaky Sneaky (Dexter Dunn) had designs on the top spot, though, and she moved up on the rim to take charge in the second quarter. Peaky Sneaky rolled through a 53 1/5 half and a 1:20 1/5 three-quarters, but Rocknificent angled out of the two-hole after three-quarters and grabbed the lead in the lane. Rocknificent then kept clear to the wire, defeating Gia's Surreal (Bob McClure) by 3 1/4 lengths. Peaky Sneaky held third.

"I think everyone's expectations were that she was most capable of winning this race. For my sake, there was a lot more action than I thought there was going to be," admitted Zeron. "JK First Lady has followed me before off a world record at the Meadowlands, so at the quarter pole I was nervous about that. Peaky Sneaky took a big shot at us, and it worked out in my favor at the end of the day. My horse performed the best she's ever really performed so far. It was great.

"It was super nice not having Timmy and Lyons Sentinel, who I've tried every which way to get around, and she's, for me, almost impossible so far."

Rocknificent, a 4-year-old Captaintreacherous mare, is trained by Linda Toscano for owners Enviro Stables Ltd., South Mountain Stables, and Little E LLC. She is now a 13-time winner from 44 lifetime tries, she boosted her bankroll to $956,162, and she returned $2.60 to win.