by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — Based on this season, Donato Hanover’s name should be Do Nothing Wrong Hanover.

The sophomore son of Andover Hall certainly hasn’t done anything wrong this season and, in fact, his most recent victory was his tenth in a row.

All he’s got to do is keep up the good work and he’ll cruise to victory in the Hambletonian.

That, however, is easier said than done.

Sure, Donato Hanover has crushed his opponents this year and in all but one of his starts last year. Sure, the Hambletonian is less than a month away. Sure, if a threat to Donato’s dominance is in the crop, he’s yet to surface.

Lisa Photo

In his most recent start, Donato Hanover won a Stanley Dancer Memorial elimination.

There is, however, a very good reason that trophies are given after a race instead of before it. So many things can happen between now and the finish line on August 4.

For example, the Hambletonian hasn’t been kind to favorites in recent years. Not since 2001 when Swedish-trained and owned Scarlet Knight prevailed has a favorite won the Hambletonian.

Last year Mr Pine Chip came into the Hambletonian final with an unblemished record. He’d started six times and won all six, and clearly seemed to be the class of the field. With stablemates Here Comes Herbie and Blue Mac Lad also in the race (but separate betting entries), Mr Pine Chip was sent off as the odds-on favorite.

Yet in the Hambletonian when things seemed to be setting up perfectly in his favor, Mr Pine Chip broke stride and finished dead last. He won one more race, but was never quite the same horse again.

Ron Pierce, the driver of Donato Hanover, knows that having the favorite for the big dance is no guarantee. Pierce drove beaten favorites in the Hambletonian in both 2004 and 2005.

In 2004, Pierce was behind 2-1 favorite Tom Ridge, who wound up eighth in the final to Windsong’s Legacy. A year later, he was sitting behind the 1-2 favorite Classic Photo, who finished second behind Vivid Photo.

In 2003, the Trond Smedshammer entry of Power To Charm and Muscle King were 1-2 in the betting for the final and yet they wound up fifth and tenth, respectively, in the final as Amigo Hall pulled off the upset.

In 2002, Andover Hall was made the 7-10 favorite by the bettors, only to break stride in the first turn and lose all chance of winning. He finished last.

Donato Hanover’s trainer Steve Elliott knows all about having a Hambletonian favorite weeks in advance of the race because he’s been down this road before. In 1989, Elliott trained the vaunted Valley Victory.

That season Valley Victory was every bit as impressive as Donato Hanover, winning seven straight races, culminated by an easy win in the Yonkers Trot in mid-July, just a few weeks before the Hambletonian. But the colt then took sick and never raced again.

So while Donato Hanover has been dominant in 2007, there are no guarantees in racing and certainly not in the Hambletonian. As Yogi says, it’s not over until it’s over.