Woodbine Mohawk Park: Brue Hanover wires field in Mohawk Gold Cup

Yannick Gingras got Brue Hanover out of the gate quickest, and the red-hot son of Stay Hungry completed a wire-to-wire effort in capturing the Grade 3 C$100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup for older male pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday night.

Brue Hanover, sent off as the second choice in the field of 10, flew out from post six, going right past favored Njinsky to secure the lead from the outset. Njinsky pushed out to gain the pocket for driver Louis-Philippe Roy, while Abuckabett Hanover and driver Dexter Dunn overcame the outside draw and moved into a three-hole before the first turn.

Brue Hanover got the quarter in 26 seconds, and Gingras deftly took advantage of a lack of movement in the second quarter, backing the half to comfortable 54 4/5 before activity picked up on the outside. Ervin Hanover and Doug McNair applied the pressure through three-quarters in 1:21 4/5, with Brue Hanover holding the lead and Njinsky blocked in the pocket.

Brue Hanover responded in the final quarter, and Gingras did his best to keep Nijinsky without room until the final yards. A closing quarter in 26 seconds gave Brue Hanover the victory in 1:47 4/5, a career-best. Nijinsky gained late along the pylons and finished second but never posed a threat to the winner. Dunn knifed between horses late to get Abuckabett Hanover up for the third spot.

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"He's definitely in career form," Gingras said of Brue Hanover, a horse he'd driven in the U.S. last December before his form skyrocketed.

Trained by Dave Menary, who finished first and fourth in the field with Ervin Hanover holding down that spot, Brue Hanover is owned by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. The 5-year-old won for the 11th time in 14 trips this year and returned $6.80.

"He's a special animal," Menary said.