by Ashley Mayotte, WEG Communications

Campbellville, ON — All Ready Hanover has garnered attention since she stepped out onto the racetrack for her 3-year-old campaign and she will look for more in her Elegantimage Stakes elimination this Friday (June 8) at Mohawk.

After destroying the competition at Kawartha Downs on April 14 by a whopping 23-1/4 lengths, the daughter of Chocolatier-Are You Ready then ventured to Woodbine on April 30, where she again proceeded to create an insurmountable gap between her and the rest of the field.

She made sure if you didn’t notice her last time, you certainly did this time.

All Ready Hanover has won four times in five outings this year, cashing $60,859 in paychecks.

All Ready Hanover won by 20-1/2 lengths over a track rated good. Veteran horseman Per Henriksen was in the racebike for his wife Ann Larsen, who trains and co-owns the filly with her father Odd Larsen of Norway.

The trotting miss continued to shine. With only one off-key effort, she is four-for-five this season, banking $60,859 in earnings.

“She made a break one time on me at Woodbine,” said Henriksen of her May 10 charted line. “She wasn’t quite herself that day, but she has been all the way since.”

Not too shabby for a $5,000 purchase at the Harrisburg Mixed Sale last fall. They were also recently offered $600,000 to sell her.

“Ann doesn’t want to sell at this time,” Henriksen explained as to why the offer was turned down. “It’s her horse and she calls the shots.

“I just want to keep peace in the house,” he laughed and then joked, “She must have more money than I know.”

But Henriksen acknowledges how extraordinary All Ready Hanover is. Larsen believes they have a once in a lifetime type horse on their hands, which is why she also got her father involved.

“She said she wished for a horse like this her whole life and finally she got one so she wants to enjoy it and whatever happens, happens,” said Henriksen, who earned the 2009 O’Brien Award of Horsemanship. “I think ‘All Ready’ is outstanding. She is something absolutely special.”

The trotter will go into her C$35,000 elimination fresh off a triumph in last week’s Casual Breeze Stakes at Mohawk. A performance where she not only won by 2-3/4 lengths, but lowered her lifetime mark to 1:53.4.

“She is a good horse and has a lot of speed,” said the 66-year-old Norwood resident. “She cruised her last quarter in :27 seconds last time and she could have gone more. I think speed is her biggest plus.

“If she races the way she did last week, she has as good of a chance as anybody else,” he added. “She drew a good post position (two) and with Trevor (Ritchie) driving, he knows what to do. So with a little luck, I think she is as good as any of them.”

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Smarty Pants has banked $99,867 in 12 lifetime starts.

Henriksen will send out barn mate Smarty Pants in the second Elegantimage elimination. The daughter of Kadabra-Twitty sports a record of 4-4-3 in 12 lifetime outings and boasts $99,867 in career earnings for owners Stan Klemencic, Dr. Brett Anderson and Asa Farm.

She is a filly who the conditioner feels is coming into her own.

“I thought she had quite a bit of talent last year,” he said. “I raced her a few times. This year, she has been getting better and better. She would have had a shot to win the (SBOA Stakes final on May 25), but she got locked in a little bit.

“She had a good two-hole trip in the mud there on Friday,” said the horseman of her 3-1/4 length Casual Breeze victory in a career-best 1:56. “I don’t know how good she is and how fast she can go, but I do not think she is as good as All Ready Hanover by no means, but we talked about it and we are going to take a shot.”

Henriksen is unsure if Smarty Pants has the talent to “go with the big girls,” but feels she possesses some striking qualities.

“She’s never made a mistake,” he stated. “She doesn’t do anything wrong. She can leave pretty well, she can follow a horse a long way and she usually has a good kick coming home.”

Smarty Pants will leave post four for driver Sylvain Filion.

Her stablemate, R Raised Emotions, is also in for some stakes action. The 3-year-old gelding will contest his C$30,000 Goodtimes Trot elimination on Saturday night.

The homebred son of Kadabra-World Class Image, who was unraced at two, has six wins, two seconds and one third-place finish in 12 starts. He has stashed away $58,946 in earnings for owners/breeders Thomas and Elizabeth Rankin.

He will leave post four for driver Chris Christoforou.

Henriksen won the Goodtimes in 2008 with Clerk Magistrate.

In addition to the Elegantimage and Goodtimes eliminations, the weekend is jam-packed with stakes. Friday’s program will also feature trotting fillies and mares, who will contest two Armbro Flight elims. On Saturday, the glamour boys will battle in two Pepsi North America Cup elims and sophomore pacing fillies will compete in a pair of Fan Hanover elims.

The top five finishers in each elimination will advance to their respective rich finals, slated for Saturday (June 16).