On June 16th, the Hanover Raceway crowd did not see Clayton Graham and Taserd coming. After going off at odds north of 70-1, the five-year old gelded son of Village Jolt blasted off in a come-from-behind upset win to pay $145.00. Taserd was back in action Saturday night and the betting public did not discount his chances this time out. Going off as a modest 3-1 second choice, Graham mounted another challenge from off the pace. Bruce Richardson and Buckshot N Bullets set the pace but eventually fell victim to Taserd’s chase. Graham and his pupil tripped the wire in 1:57.2 for back-to-back wins at Hanover Raceway.
Elsewhere on the card, Richardson picked up a driving hat-trick with wins aboard Rompaway Empress in the first, Kendal Accolade in the third, and Wicked Fast in the seventh. Those three wins push the Arthur, Ontario native’s season total to 16, just two behind Trevor Henry for the lead. Henry picked up back-to-back wins on the card with Mischievous Maple and Rustlemewithenvy in the fifth and sixth races respectively. Rustlemewithenvy’s win extends trainer Larry Hall’s unbeaten streak at Hanover to seven as he continues to be perfect in Saugeen country in 2012.
In the featured tenth race, the Hanover Rona Mile, local favourite Cams Best Bet emerged victorious, edging out a front-stepping Donegal Mac and Holliday. Terry Fritz did the driving from trainer Larry Micallef and owner Dawn Lupul. The 1:55.2 clocking was a season’s best performance for the nine-year old winner of over $375,000. Cams Best Bet has won two of three starts in Hanover this season.
Hanover Raceway begins Thursday night racing this week, with customer appreciation day on July 5th. Post-time is 7:15. |