Mare favored tonight in Dayton Trotting Derby

It will be a lady’s night out if the oddsmakers are right about tonight’s Dayton Trotting Derby at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

Hannelore Hanover — a 5-year-old mare — is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the $167,000 Grand Circuit race, even though she has drawn the No. 7 hole for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Ron Burke.

Two weeks ago she beat her male counterparts in impressive fashion at the $594,000 Maple Leaf Trot at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ontario. She ran a 1:51.1 to win by 4 1/2 lengths.

“When she’s like this, in North America anyway, I’ll take on any trotter,” Yannick Gingras, who drove her that night, told reporters. “When she’s like this you can race her any which way you want.”

A daughter of Swan For All, Hannelore Hanover is now 6 for 10 this season with $634,986 earned. The talented trotting mare has 32 career wins and has surpassed $2 million in career earnings.

Homocide Hunter driven by Brett Miller is the 3-1 second choice tonight, even though he will come out of the outside No. 8 post. Last Friday he set a Hoosier Park track record with a 1:51/2 victory in the Centaur Trot.

The third choice in the Dayton Trotting Derby is JL Cruze (9-2), driven by David Miller. He’ll break from the favored No. 1 post.

Rounding out the field are: 8-1 Warrawee Roo (Daniel Dube), 5-1 Pasithea Face S (Tim Tetrick,) 12-1 Musical Rhythm (Jason Brewer), 15-1 Centurion ATM (Aaron Merriman) and 6-1 Crazy Wow (Chris Page).

Tonight is the most trumpeted night of racing during Dayton Raceway’s 76-day meet. It also features the $140,000 Dayton Pacing Derby.

The 17 horses entered in tonight’s two featured events have a combined earnings of $19, 615,182 with 347 victories.

Post time for the 14-race program is 6:15 p.m.

The Dayton Trotting Derby will be Race 10 with an estimated 9:30 p.m. start and the Dayton Pacing Derby will be two races later at approximately 10:15 p.m.

McWicked, driven by David Miller, is the slight 5-2 favorite in the Dayton Pacing Derby. Also a $2 million career winner, he is trained by Casie Coleman and earlier this month won the Jim Ewart Memorial at Scioto Downs with an impressive 1:49.2 mile.

McWicked has won seven times in 21 starts this year.

The horse with the fastest record in tonight’s field is Rockin Ron who is driven by Matt Kakaley. A 3-1 second choice favorite in the Pacing Derby, he recorded a 1:47 2/5 triumph in an elimination of the Canadian Pacing Derby in late August.

Check Six, driven by Chris Page, is the oddsmakers’ second choice at 4-1 and Missile J (Tim Tetrick) is 9-2.

The rest of the Pacing Derby field includes: 12-1 Luck Be Withyou (Brett Miller), 10-1 Easy Lover Hanover (Doug McNair), 8-1 Dealt A Winner (Aaron Merriman), 6-1 Boston Red Rocks (Josh Sutton) and 15-1 Mach It So (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.).

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