“We’ve never had one, but we did have one that won his last start before the eliminations and then they sold him. That’s kind of what’s happened to us. You get a good one and then they go to a big stable or they sell them. So it’s pretty exciting to think that we could get there."
Jurgen Hanover heads into eliminations for the $500,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot this Saturday (June 22) at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs with a big head of steam -- seven wins in his last seven starts. His wins include the elim and final of the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon, the final in a career best 1:53.4.
Donna Marshall trains the son of Credit Winner-Yassi Hanover for owners Norman and Gerald Smiley and the TLP Stable and says the colt joined their stable late in 2012.
“He was at Blairwood Farms turned out last fall and the owner called up and asked if we were interested in picking him up and we said yes,” she said. “He’d had this horse with nice people and good trainers, so lucky for us.”
The Marshall Stable consists of about 14 horses, nearly double their usual load right now, with Donna, husband Jim and Mike O’Sullivan tending to their stock, plus “a lot of good friends that come and help us out when we’re busy,” she says.
While Jurgen Hanover has had seven starts beyond a February qualifier, he hasn’t yet raced more than twice in a month.
“We’ve been trying to pick and choose his races,” said Marshall. “It’s so tough, they go so fast all the time. We’re trying to keep him sound and knock on wood, he’s been all right. He’s got a lot of races the rest of this year, too.”
Marshall says the training regimen of Jurgen Hanover, who has a scattering of white hairs throughout his body and two stripes of white on either side of his tail, has been smooth so far, with no special needs or quirks.
“When they’re good horses, they make you look good. I would like to say we did some miracle thing, but when they’re good, they’re good and they make you look good. We’ve had a couple that have been like that -- they just like their job.”
The August 3 Hambletonian at the Meadowlands looms large on Jurgen Hanover’s calendar and it would be a first for the Marshalls.
“Each race at a time, that’s how we handle it. They have to go so fast and this weekend it’ll be Smilin Eli and the rest. It’ll be a real test.
“He seems to have a great attitude and I know Dave (driver Miller) has said when he’s raced him, that the first couple times he never even pulled the ear plugs, but when he has asked him, he switches to another gear and pretty naturally does it.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.