from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Freehold, NJ — Donato Hanover is on the brink of closing out one of the more remarkable careers for a trotter in recent memory, if not harness racing history. The 3-year-old will try to wrap up a perfect year — he’s 11-for-11 in 2007 — with victories in the Breeders Crown eliminations on Saturday (November 17) and final on November 24 at the Meadowlands. The two triumphs would increase his win streak to 21; a streak that started after Donato Hanover lost the first race of his career on June 22, 2006 at the Meadowlands.

The only horse to win a race in which Donato Hanover was defeated is named, somewhat ironically, Strive For Perfect. He finished 3-1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Donato Hanover in a non-betting $5,000 race for 2-year-old male trotters at the Meadowlands, winning in 1:58.3. Lancelot Trotsalot was second.

Lisa Photo

Strive For Perfect has won six of 21 lifetime starts, with earnings of $175,547.

“I think they were being very careful, and we weren’t,” said a chuckling Ray Remmen, who drove Strive For Perfect. “There is no comparison between the two. Our horse was well advanced at that age and peaked early. He never got better; he hit a brick wall after that. At the time, we didn’t know we’d come to the end of the road so quickly. It was about another month and we started having problems with his manners. It continued to get worse the rest of the year, and this year was worse yet.”

Donato Hanover turned the tables on Strive For Perfect a week after their first encounter, winning a division of the Harriman Cup by a half length in 1:57.2. Strive For Perfect was the favorite in the race, giving him another distinction — the only horse to be favored against Donato Hanover (who was 5-2 in the Harriman).

Strive For Perfect’s 2-year-old campaign featured several high points, including a win in the Harold Dancer Memorial at Freehold Raceway and a second-place finish in the New Jersey Sires Stakes final. He ended the year with four wins in 10 starts and earned $146,997. This season, he has won two of 11 races and earned $28,550, but gone off stride seven times.

“He had some speed and ability, but we were suspicious and careful because he acted like he could get this way,” said Remmen, who trains the horse with his brother, Larry, for owner John Lichtenberger. “We weren’t surprised, but we didn’t think it would get to this point. The more he raced, the more wound up he got. We gelded him, but that didn’t change him at all, actually. It’s just one of those things.”

The connections considered selling Strive For Perfect, a son of Muscles Yankee-Swift Kid Hanover who was purchased for $77,000 as a yearling, at last week’s Standardbred Horse Sale, but decided against it. Instead, the horse was sent to the Meadows, near Pittsburgh, where Greg Wright will try his luck.

“We’d heard the buzz about Donato, but we didn’t pay too much attention to beating him,” Remmen said. “It wasn’t like we were thinking that we beat what’s supposed to be a really good horse. It was way too early to make an assessment about it, and we were suspicious about our horse.

“He’ll probably be in-to-go (at the Meadows) soon,” he added. “Maybe somebody else can figure him out.”