All Ready Hanover & Smarty Pants Best In Casual Breeze
Jun 1

Three-year-old trotting fillies were in action in a pair of Casual Breeze Stakes divisions on Friday night at Mohawk Racetrack, and All Ready Hanover and Smarty Pants were victorious over the sloppy going.

In the first $79,519 section Win Missy B (Paul MacDonell), who defeated eventual North American champion two-year-old trotting filly Check Me Out in both her elimination and the final of the Peaceful Way Stakes last year at Mohawk, was making her 2012 debut, and she was in the lead through fractions of :27.4, :57.3, and 1:26.2 with All Ready Hanover (Trevor Ritchie) tracking in the pocket.

At the top of the stretch Ritchie angled All Ready Hanover to the outside, and she would battle with Win Missy B until the sixteenth pole. At that point All Ready Hanover powered past, and she would open up to defeat Win Missy B by two and three-quarter lengths in 1:53.4. Northern Miss Hall (Scott Zeron) closed at the inside to finish third.

All Ready Hanover - New Image Media Photo

“She’s always been a nice filly,” winning trainer and co-owner Ann Karin Larsen said. “She doesn’t do a thing wrong and always wants to please you. She’s heavily staked this year, so hopefully things work out.”

Larsen paid a mere $5,000 for All Ready Hanover at last year’s Harrisburg Mixed Sale.

“She was a good-looking filly, but she was making breaks for her previous trainer," Larsen explained. "I think I got lucky because she’s such a professional and does everything right. That’s why I got my father involved so we can have some fun together.”

Larsen's father Odd shares ownership of the victorious three-year-old daughter of Chocolatier. All Ready Hanover was winless and didn't earn any money as a rookie, but she has won four times from five starts this year and banked $62,459.

The complexion of the other $81,020 Casual Breeze test changed right at the start when public choice Idonette (John Campbell) made a break. That left second favourite Lovely Vacation (Randy Waples) in control of things through stations of :27.3, :57.1, and 1:26.4 with Smarty Pants (Sylvain Filion) in the two-hole.

Filion had Smarty Pants out and on the move from the pocket trip past three-quarters, and she would get a half-length advantage over Lovely Vacation at the eighth pole. Smarty Pants would continue to pour it on from there, and she would prevail by three and a quarter lengths in 1:56. Lovely Vacation wound up second and Circles (Luc Ouellette) collected third.

Smarty Pants - New Image Media Photo

“I knew she was going to give me a good race because she was racing well in her most recent starts coming into the race,” Filion said following the win. “When that filly (Idonette) made a break, it encouraged my decision to press forward and it worked out.”

Per Henriksen trains Smarty Pants, a three-year-old filly by Kadabra, for owners Stan Klemencic, Dr. Brett Anderson, and Asa Farm. Smarty Pants has a pair of triumphs from seven trips behind the gate this season, and she has four career victories. She has put away $83,466 in 2012 and $101,828 in her life.

Both Casual Breeze winners are eligible to the Elegantimage Stakes at Mohawk. Eliminations for that race are coming up next Friday, June 8.

(with files from WEG)