by Mark McKelvie, WEG Communications

Milton, ON — Tall Drink Hanover avoided a second quarter jam-up to win Tuesday’s (Aug. 14) $28,120 Whenuwishuponastar Series final at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

A field of eight rookie pacing fillies competed in the finale of the three-week Whenuwishuponastar Series.

New Image Media photo

Tall Drink Hanover was a 1:52.1 winner for driver Andrew McCarthy.

Trainer Tony Alagna sent out the strong duo of round one winners Key West and Tall Drink Hanover. The betting public made Key West the heavy 1-5 favorite, but a second quarter incident likely cost her a third consecutive victory.

Carousel and driver Doug McNair blasted off the wings of the gate to grab the early lead and post a :27.4 opening quarter. Tall Drink Hanover got away third, while Key West was following fourth. As the field entered the backstretch, driver Andrew McCarthy angled Tall Drink Hanover to the outside, which turned out to be the winning move. Carousel appeared to pull herself up, leading to Tarryn A Strip and Key West getting into a jam-up collision.

Key West made a break due to the interference. The favorite did reset to stay in the race mid-pack. Meanwhile, Tall Drink Hanover scooted away and posted fractions of :56.3 and 1:24.2.

In the stretch, Tall Drink Hanover cruised home in :27.4 to collect her second win in four starts. Key West grinded through the mix up on the outside around the final turn and ultimately finished up in :27.3 to cross the wire second, beaten 3-1/2 lengths. Deb finished third, while Abuelita Hanover and Beach Bar finished in a dead-heat for fourth.

A daughter of Captaintreacherous-Take Into Account, Tall Drink Hanover was a $35,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase and is owned by Alagna Racing, Marvin Katz and Riverview Racing. The Alagna trainee has followed up back-to-back third-place finishes at The Meadowlands with a pair of wins at Mohawk Park.

“She’s pretty nice this filly, does everything right, covers a lot of ground and really handy,” said McCarthy after driving Tall Drink Hanover for the first time Tuesday. “We got lucky coming out of the first turn, we missed that carnage; we weren’t going a helluva lot at that stage, so I thought I would get her out and get her moving and try and get her up front there close enough and I just got lucky that I did move her when I did.”

On the heels of Captain Ahab’s Dream Maker victory Monday, Tall Drink Hanover gave the Alagna barn its second series victory in as many nights.

“This filly has been improving,” said Alagna post-race. “She came from the Harrisburg Sale as opposed to the Lexington Sale, like Key West did, and she’s been on the improve and we were just lucky that Key West and this filly didn’t get in trouble when that filly of Doug’s (McNair) made a break or pulled up on the front.”

Tall Drink Hanover established a new career mark with her 1:52.1 clocking and has now earned $21,850 for her connections. She paid $15.80 to win.

Tuesday evening’s card also saw Dancer Hall collect his fourth Preferred victory of the season for driver Sylvain Filion and trainer Paul Reid. The 4-year-old was a coast-to-coast winner in 1:52.3 over four rivals in the $25,840 top trot. The victory was the seventh in 12 starts this season and 15th overall for the Reid trainee.

Dancer Hall has now earned $103,990 of his $181,254 in career earnings this season for owners 1187422 Ontario Inc. He paid $3.30 to win.

Live racing resumes Thursday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Post time is 7:10 p.m.