by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Trainer Jason Robinson cannot say whether Mud Pie Hanover will win Friday’s (Feb. 17) $63,750 Cape & Cutter series final at Meadowlands Racetrack, but the 6-year-old pacing mare has exceeded his expectations regularly since he claimed her in October.

Last week, Mud Pie Hanover won her second-round division of the Cape & Cutter series by three-quarters of a length over Royal Cee Cee N in 1:51.4 at odds of 59-1. She has won two of four starts this year and five of 12 races since Robinson claimed the mare out of a $20,000-$25,000 claiming handicap at The Meadows.

Mud Pie Hanover will start Friday’s Cape & Cutter final from post No. 1 with driver Daniel Dube. She is 6-1 on the morning line. Higher And Higher, who has won all four of her races this year and eight of nine going back to October, is the 9-5 favorite for trainer/driver Daryl Bier.

“I feel she’s as sharp as we can get her right now,” Robinson said about Mud Pie Hanover, who is owned by Pennsylvania’s Robert Main. “She’s really on top of her game. She trained back really well (Tuesday) and everything is where it should be.”

A daughter of Allamerican Native-Mud Hen, Mud Pie Hanover has won 25 of 95 career starts and earned $269,634. Her only off-the-board finish since joining Robinson’s stable came in the first round of the Cape & Cutter when she was fourth, beaten by 2-3/4 lengths, off a two-week break. She has made $91,625 for Robinson and Main.

“She was very sharp in (her claiming) class and we took a shot at her,” Robinson said. “She’s just improved every time we’ve raced her. When I paid her into the Cape & Cutter she was just as sharp as could be at The Meadows. We figured we would take a shot. It just so happens she’s been exceptionally good.”

Last week, Mud Pie Hanover and Dube left quickly from post six and got the lead with a :28-second opening quarter-mile. They yielded the lead to Go On BB, who was later passed by Ginger And Fred just prior to the halfway point, which was reached in :56.

Dube moved Mud Pie Hanover off the rail from third place coming off the final turn and powered to victory.

“All the stars aligned last week,” Robinson said. “Danny got her out to the lead and they went slow numbers early and she got to stalk. Turning for home, if she’s close she’s going to give everything she’s got. She’s just a gritty, tough little thing. That’s her biggest asset. She has a quick turn of speed; she can go from zero to 60 in no time at all.”

Robinson, who is an Illinois native and has 60 horses in his stable, spent nine years working for Ron Burke before going out on his own in 2011. His father, Charles Sr., was a horse owner and his brother, Charles Jr., also was involved in racing.

“When I moved out here from Chicago I started working for (Burke),” Robinson said. “I learned so much from him, not only about horses, but also about business and being a good person.”

Last year, Robinson won 169 races and $1.67 million.

“I would like to improve the quality of the horses I have,” Robinson said. “We raced a lot of low-level claimers and I’d like to race some conditioned horses and stakes horses. That’s a hard page to turn to, to find those horses, but I’d really like to. I’d like to take one step closer to it every year and just keep improving on the previous year’s stats.

“I’m still a little kid at heart, so to compete against guys I’ve watched and looked up to is unbelievable. It’s just neat.”

Robinson said he might send Mud Pie Hanover to the Blue Chip Matchmaker series at Yonkers Raceway following the Cape & Cutter.

“We’re going to see how she races in the final,” Robinson said. “Our options are open, but I think the Matchmaker is a real possibility.

“Higher And Higher and Ginger And Fred are the main two horses we’re going to worry about,” he added about the Cape & Cutter. “Royal Cee Cee has been very good throughout the preliminary legs as well. I hope we can land in a good spot early and with any luck they’ll mix it up early and we’ll get the same kind of trip as last week where we can pop out late and do all of our best work in the stretch.”