by USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — Doo Wop Hanover led all the way to win the $225,000 Jim Ewart Memorial for free-for-all pacers in 1:49.2 on Ohio Super Night Saturday (Sept. 12) at Scioto Downs.

Driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. took Doo Wop Hanover off the gate first, followed by All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) and Limelight Beach (Chris Page). Doo Wop Hanover led to the quarter in 26.1 and half in 54.2 before being challenged by Limelight Beach, who was flushed from third by favored State Treasurer (David Miller).

Past the three-quarters in 1:21.2 and into the stretch, the 5-1 Doo Wop Hanover paced strongly down the stretch to win by a head over All Bets Off from the pocket. State Treasurer was third.

“The one I was worried about was the one behind me, and he almost got me at the wire, but my horse dug in,” said Wrenn. “The front-end wasn’t really a good spot to be tonight—it’s a cold night—but he overcame it and everything worked out.”

Trained by Steve Elliott for co-owners Peter Blood and Rick Berks, Doo Wop Hanover is a 4-year-old horse by Rocknroll Hanover. He has won seven of 15 starts, with three seconds and one third. Second trainer Jake “Shorty” Leamon was with the horse, who shipped from his home base at Showplace Farms in New Jersey. It was Wrenn’s first drive on the horse, so Leamon gave him one piece of advice: the more you grab him, the more he goes.

“I told him that you can’t really fire him up, because then he won’t come back to you, but he seemed pretty manageable when they got to the half,” said Leamon. “I told him just to keep the bit in his mouth and he will be good for you.”

The race is named after Jim Ewart, who worked at 18 different racetracks during his career, serving as race secretary at Scioto Downs from 1976-2002. He died on Feb. 14, 2012. The first edition of the race was contested in 2013, with Pet Rock winning in a world-record 1:47.2. Bigtown Hero won the 2014 edition in 1:48.2.

Saturday’s “Super Night” card also includes the $100,000 Chip Noble Memorial for older trotters, won by Wind Of The North in 1:53.2, and eight $225,000 Ohio Sire Stakes championships. In addition, there was a fundraiser for driver Brad Hanners, who was diagnosed recently with kidney cancer. A special Man vs. Horse race, with 1988 Olympic gold medalist Butch Reynolds, was won by the horse when Reynolds pulled up at the sixteenth pole, citing an issue with his shoe. However, more than $800 was raised for the Butch Reynolds Care for Kids Foundation.

Wind Of The North takes Noble Memorial Trot

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Wind Of The North scored a wire-to-wire 1:53.2 win in the Sam ‘Chip’ Noble III Memorial.

Wind Of The North dug in to score a wire-to-wire, 1:53.2 win the $100,000 Sam “Chip” Noble III Memorial Trot on Ohio Super Night Saturday (Sept. 12) at Scioto Downs.

Driven by Dave Palone, Wind Of The North went to the front from post five as the 9-5 second choice. Gural Hanover and Matt Kakaley, the 3-2 favorite, tucked into the pocket as the field trotted single-file past the quarter in 27.3.

“He’s so quick and easy off the gate that he just makes my job easy,” said Palone, who also drove Wind Of The North to a fifth-place finish in an Elitloppet elimination this spring in Sweden. “When I thought we could get around Gural Hanover and control the numbers, I thought that was our best scenario to win.”

Kirty Dream and Josh Sutton were first to move before the half, reached in 56.1, with Rompaway Galaxy and Chris Page second-over.

As the field rounded the final turn past the three-quarters in 1:24.4, Rompaway Galaxy tipped three-wide while Gural Hanover tipped in to charge up the passing lane.

“When we got down to the three-quarters in 1:24.4 and no one had looked at him, it came down to a two-horse race (between Wind Of The North and Gural Hanover),” said Palone.

Neither were any match for Wind Of The North, who hung on to win by a head with Gural Hanover second. Local star Southwind Pepino (Hugh Beatty) was third by a neck.

“From the time we left the gate, I was really only concerned about Gural Hanover,” said Palone. “It was one of those things that you choreograph it out and it finally worked out right for once.”

Wind Of The North is co-owned by trainer Daryl Bier and Joann Dombeck. A 5-year-old gelding by Cantab Hall, Wind Of The North was purchased by Bier using the insurance money from the untimely death of Modern Family from an aneurysm just after finishing fourth in the 2014 Maple Leaf Trot at Mohawk Racetrack. Modern Family’s last win was in the $200,000 Charlie Hill Memorial at Scioto Downs for Bier last June.

“Wind Of The North is a horse I can’t sell because I would have to pay huge capital gains taxes,” said Bier. “But it’s just wonderful to have a horse like this again. To replace a free-for-all trotter is very difficult and I think he’s going to be an even better horse next year. He’s got three more races and he’ll be done for the year after the Allerage (Trot at The Red Mile on Oct. 10).”

The race is named after Sam “Chip” Noble III, an Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame trainer-driver who died Jan. 13, 2014. He won national UDR crowns in 1978, 1991, and 1983, and was chosen to represent the United States in the World Driving Championship in 2001 and 2003. He was also a USTA District 1 director.