Westwardho Hanover continued his late season supplemental surge with a victory in the $162,200 Cleveland Classic for sophomore pacers on Saturday at Northfield Park
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After returning to the paddock to have a flat tire on his sulky replaced prior to the race, supplemental entry Westwardho Hanover fired off the gate from Post 5 and was caught three-wide as he worked his way to the top during a :27.2 opening quarter.
The overwhelming 1-5 favourite, driven by Dave Palone, settled on top and proceeded to the lead the way past the half in :56 while Upfront Ellijay Ed (Tyler Smith) angled off the pylons from fourth.
Down the backstretch, Westwardho Hanover began to draw away from the the 10-horse field with Upfront Ellijay Ed stalling on the outside and Onhishonor Hanover (Dan Noble) sweeping three-wide from the backfield.
Westwardho Hanover hit three-quarters in 1:24.1 and widened his leading margin to five lengths coming for home. The Ron Burke trainee was untouchable as he sprinted down the stretch to score in 1:51.1. Mystic Desire (Peter Wrenn) finished second off a three-hole trip while Audreys Dream (Jody Jamieson) came on for third.
The Dragon Again-Western Duel colt, owned by Pennsylvania's Westward Ho Stable, was supplemented to a few other late season stakes aside from the Cleveland Classic in which he produced a 1:49.1 win in the Progress Pace at Dover Downs on Nov. 13 and a second place finish behind his stablemate Hugadragon in the Matron at Dover on Nov. 20.
"I thought he was particularly impressive going [1]:51.1 in the cold," said Palone, who is now the winningest driver in the history of the Cleveland Classic with five victories. "He didn't quite get out [of the gate] good, but when he gets to the front, he loves to be there. I was kind of disappointed in the way I raced him at Dover so I thought I would stretch him out."
The connections of Westwardho Hanover have indicated that they are considering taking the colt to Toronto to race through the winter months if he is up to the challenge.
"I think he's the type of horse with his laid-back demeanour that racing him will help him more than anything," said Palone. "He's probably the freshest three-year-old out there right now. It's a shame the season has got to come to an end somewhere, but he's the type of horse that is easy enough on himself I think he'll be able to make the jump to the aged ranks."
Westwardho Hanover, who joined the Burke barn at the end of September, has recorded six wins in 19 outings this year while banking $485,935. The win was his 10th in 26 lifetime starts and pushed his overall earnings to $583,295.
Westwardho Hanover paid $2.40 to win.