HP Paque is sport’s newest millionaire
April 4, 2004,from Meadowlands Media Relations
HP Paque [$4.20, $2.80, $2.40] completed a series sweep and became trotting’s newest millionaire in the process with a gate-to-wire victory in the $134,400 Su Mac Lad Final on Sunday afternoon at the Meadowlands.
Trained and driven by Trond Smedshammer, HP Paque powered away to a two-length victory in 1:54.2.
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HP Paque, driven and trained by Trond Smedshammer, reaches $1 million in career earnings in the $134,400 Su Mac Lad Final on Sunday afternoon.
“There were no anxious moments from [the three-quarter pole],” Smedshammer said. “I hollered at him a couple of times but never really had to ask him.
“He has the Lotteria in Italy next, then the Oslo Grand Prix and then the Elitlopp,” Smedshammer added. “He’ll be back at the Meadowlands for the Titan Cup the last week of June.”
HP Paque is a perfect three-for-three this season. The world-traveling seven-year-old, owned by Timo H. Yli Panula of Pompano Beach, Florida, now has career earnings of $1,028,861.
The two mares in the field, Windylane Hanover [$4.80, $3.20] and Scully FBI [$4.80], finished second and third, respectively.
“She was just super,” said driver Ron Pierce of Windylane Hanover, the 2003 Trotting Mare of the Year. “I took her back off the gate and we went between a couple of horses in the lane. We just had a bad post today. If we had drawn better and we were closer to the leader at the end, it might have been a different story. She raced super today. She was full of trot in the end.”
Fool’s Goal, the 2002 champion trotter, went off stride in the opening quarter and finished a distanced ninth. “I just think the track was too hard [after being scraped] and he made a break,” said driver Jack Moiseyev.