Wilkes-Barre, PA — Dandy Ideal outdueled Rick Wink to get the lead in the opening quarter and remained on top from there to win Saturday’s (June 16) $300,000 Grade 2 Max C. Hempt Memorial, for 3-year-old male pacers, in 1:48.2 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
Rick Wink finished second, half a length behind the winner, and Manolete rallied on the inside to take third.
Jason Bartlett got Dandy Ideal to the front in a :25.4 first quarter, then reached the half in :54.3 and three quarters in 1:21. Prince Hal Hanover and driver Todd McCarthy made a first-over bid from third just past the half, but they were unable to get to the leader on the last turn. Yannick Gingras guided Rick Wink out of the pocket in the stretch, but Dandy Ideal had enough in the tank to win his fifth consecutive start.
“I was pretty intent on cutting it out,” Bartlett said. “I used him a little bit hard the first eighth, and then kind of rode through the turn a little bit; we were pacing pretty fast. But he’s a really good horse and has been great the last four or five starts. This was not surprising to me.”
Dandy Ideal finished second by a head to Twisted Destiny in the MGM Grand Messenger Stakes on June 27, then won a conditioned race at Pocono in 1:48.2 and added three straight victories on the New York Sire Stakes circuit prior to the Hempt.
“I know he belongs with these horses,” Bartlett said. “So, for me, I have all the confidence in the world in him.”
Dandy Ideal, trained by Hunter Oakes, is owned by Susan Oakes, Thaddeus Wier, and Alan Johnston. The son of American Ideal-OK Heavenly was bred by Stephen Dey III and Dandy Farms Inc. He has won five of 10 races this year and 10 of 20 lifetime, with earnings of $509,555.
The gelding paid $13.20 as the 5-1 third choice behind Prince Hal Hanover and Twisted Destiny.
Snack Attack, Makes Sense win Hempt consolations
The Stay Hungry gelding Snack Attack blew up the tote board with a 1:50.4 triumph in the $200,000 Hempt Consolation I, paying $98 to win. Jason Bartlett backed out of the pocket late on the far turn for clearance, then swung wide and got the job done in a lifetime best clocking for trainer Joe Bongiorno and owners Philip Steinberg, Joe Sbrocco, and JAF Racing LLC. Thirsty Tuesday made a brief break on the final turn and caused interference; he rebounded to cross the wire second but was placed back to seventh.
Sitting seventh early in the stretch is not prime real estate at Pocono, but the Papi Rob Hanover gelding Makes Sense, mired behind excess cover, found himself in that position in the $100,000 Hempt Consolation II. Fortunately for the Robert Cleary trainee, the pace had been quite contested, and driver James MacDonald got a nice rally from Makes Sense to pick up Joel And The Jets by a half length in 1:50.4, missing his mark by a tick. Let It Ride Stables Inc., Celtic Racing, and Carl Howard own the winner.
— PHHA/Pocono contributed to this report