by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Hanover D G N, who goes about his business for owner Richard Leon Michael, is one of those veterans who gives everything he has week in and week out.

A winner of seven of his 35 appearances last season, the New Zealand-bred has captured five of his first 24 this year, including three of his last four. Lou Pena was in the bike for the first tally of the recent three-bagger, while Lemoyne Svendsen has been the pilot for the last pair and will once again do the honors from the one hole in Thursday’s (July 2) 11th race.

Interestingly, Hanover D G N hasn’t been favored in any of those wins. He was 21-1 when Pena guided him to a convincing decision on June 4, while he has been 10-1 and 5-2, respectively, in his last two tallies while doing the track-and-attack to perfection for Svendsen.

Owner Michael has been a harness racing fan for over 50 years, but it’s only in the last year or two that he’s made the leap into ownership.

“I’ve been a fan and followed harness racing since I was about 15,” the 71-year-old explained. “I started out seeing them at the Ohio fairs and then kept up when I came to California.

“I was the manufacturer of a liquid-filled shoe insole, and when I started to find I was losing a little interest, I sold the business to my daughter. When I retired, they told me I was going to go a little crazy and needed a hobby,” said the Barstow resident.

Michael got to be friends with Don and Jeff Ratchford, who have a place in neighboring Victorville, which led to being introduced to Pena — who had trained the pacer until this start.

By the way, Michael’s insole company is called Hydropedes. If that sounds familiar, it’s because a swift trotter who is currently campaigning at Cal-Expo was given the same name by our subject.

A passion for trotters and pacers

Richard Morita has been a harness racing fan for some 40 years and an owner since 1982, and he hasn’t lost a bit of enthusiasm for the game.

“I started coming here to Cal-Expo when I was 16 years old and Lloyd Arnold was running the meet,” the Sacramento native related. “I also got the chance to see them racing at Hollywood Park, with drivers like Shelly Goudreau and horses like Courageous Red.”

After putting aside some money, Morita was able to claim a horse with driver/trainer Howard Parker and it didn’t take long to make it to the winner’s circle.

“He won a few races up here, then he went down to Hollywood in the fall and won seven of his eight starts and was named claimer of the meet.”

Morita points out Tucker In and Yankee Lance as two of his other favorites.

“Tucker In gave us our first stakes winner, and Yankee Lance was a horse we bought out of a New Jersey sale and he won in 1:49.4 for us at the Meadowlands. I never dreamed I would own a horse who would go a sub-1:50 mile and that was quite a thrill. He won about $100,000 for us, and ended up with about $220,000 and a 1:49 mark.”

Richard currently has a pair of performers in action at this track, including the hard-hitting Split Ticket from the Liberio Pacheco barn, who is coming off an Open victory. He campaigns this one along with David Yamada, David O’Hara and Kaiton Wong.

“I like owning horses in partnership because there’s not as much exposure and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve probably had horses with David Yamada for about 15 years now. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to the winner’s circle, the more the merrier.”

Morita is also quick to point out that he has the good fortune to be associated with several top horsemen since jumping into the ownership end.

“Howard Parker was my first trainer and we ended up being great friends. I also had quite a bit of success with Paul Blumenfeld and Rudy Sialana, and more recently with (Edgar) Sparky Clarke.”

Sheila steps up with her best

That was the real Sheila’s Dream we saw in action last week, as the 3-year-old trotting daughter of Website went coast-to-coast in a lifetime-best 1:59 performance with Rick Plano at the controls.

George Reider trains and co-owns Sheila’s Dream with Maurice Sigmon, and while the sophomore miss does have a pair of stakes victories on her resume, she has been plagued by breaking problems during her career that have kept her from earning more trophies.

Coming into last week’s try, the bay miss had made miscues in three straight evening appearances, but a couple of qualifiers in the interim had her ready for her best and she went out and looked awfully smooth on the front end for Plano while shaving a full second and three-fifths off her previous mark.

“Hopefully, mom is up there smiling right now,” said Reider, referencing the naming of the trotter after his late mother. “You saw the real Sheila’s Dream in that race and she’s only going to get better and better from this point.

“Rick and I knew something was pinching her, which is why she was making the breaks. She can’t talk, though, and it took some time to figure out what it was. With some shoeing and equipment changes, we’ve finally got her right.”

Obviously, Reider and company wish the next round of stakes races was just around the corner, but they’ll have to wait for the fall to get another shot at the big money.

“We’re looking forward to November,” he noted. “She’s already got a couple of stakes wins, and we’d love to add some more.”