 The people around Donato Hanover, the top-ranked harness horse in
North America, certainly hope so.They are sending their
multimillion-dollar horse to Du Quoin to see if he can trot the
fastest mile in harness racing history. The current record of 1:50
2/5 was set in the 2004 World Trotting Derby.
Donato Hanover is fresh off a victory in the $1.5 million
Hambletonian, first leg of the Triple Crown for trotters, at the
Meadowlands in New Jersey earlier this month. It was his fifth win
in as many starts this season and his 13th win in 14 career starts.
He lost his first race, in June 2006, and has never been beaten
since then.
He has earned more than $1 million this season, justifying his
syndication price of $6 million last winter. He is far more valuable
than that today. At the end of the 2007 season, Donato Hanover will
retire from racing to begin breeding service at Hanover Shoe Farms
in Pennsylvania, where he was foaled and raised.
The lure of the World Trotting Derby is so great that the owners
of Donato Hanover bypassed the Yonkers Trot, the second leg of the
Triple Crown, to come to Illinois to showcase their colt. Although
there will be no Triple Crown winner this year, the sport of harness
racing may have a new speed champion among trotters if all goes well
at Du Quoin.
Donato Hanover ranks as the overwhelming choice of experts as the
top horse in harness racing's top 10 poll released on Aug. 20. He
got 32 of 34 first-place votes.
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He will be among the starters in the World Trotting Derby, which
will be contested for an estimated purse of $550,000 on Sept. 1 at
Du Quoin. He's expected to meet with ample opposition, and Donato's
camp knows that long shots have scored many upsets in past World
Trotting Derbies. In fact, several Hambletonian winners have entered
the World Trotting Derby looking for another lucrative win, only to
be upstaged by another horse.
With more than a half-million dollars in purse money up for
grabs, Donato Hanover will have plenty of competition from colts
that have been chasing him for two seasons. He'll need to have his
trotting shoes on tight for the race.
Trainer Steve Elliott promises to have Donato ready for the big
race. His best winning time over the mile is 1:53 1/5, but he has
never been pushed or fully extended this year. Many observers feel
that if he gets a good day at Du Quoin, the world record is in
jeopardy.
Donato has been prepping for the World Trotting Derby at The Red
Mile in Lexington, Ky., and is expected to ship to Illinois soon.
The World Trotting Derby is the signature event on the harness
racing program at the Du Quoin State Fair. Racing begins on Monday
and continues through Sept. 1.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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