So Long Hanover said so long to his opposition early in the $14,400 trotting feature on a special Kentucky Derby Day Saturday afternoon (May 1) card at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Pat Berry got the Donato Hanover gelding away quickly and put up fractions of :28.2, :58.2 and 1:27.3, with Bountiful Brittney, who won three of her previous four races, right behind him. However, the pocket-sitting mare could make no dent into So Long Hanover s advantage, as he scored by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.3 on debut for trainer Scott DiDomenico and owners Bottom Line Racing LLC and Triple D Stables Inc.
A pair of $12,600 co-featured events saw a division on each gait. On the trot, the sophomore Bar Hopping gelding Inaminute Hanover won his second straight local start, sweeping to the lead nearing the three-quarters and going on to post a lifetime best of 1:56.3 for the same connections of 2019 Hambletonian winner Forbidden Trade: driver Bob McClure, trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination.