Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

When owner David Scharf plunked down $95,000 for a then yearling Donato Hanover one year ago, trainer Steve Elliott hadn’t yet laid eyes on the youngster.

"Dave bought Donato on his own, and then brought him to me," Elliott recalls. "I don’t believe in giving that much money for yearlings, but in this case, it was absolutely the right move. Dave does a good job of selecting the right horses."

Donato Hanover more than paid for himself during his freshman campaign. The son of first-crop sire Andover Hall did no less than reward Scharf and co-owners Golden Touch Stable (of Fair Lawn, NJ) and Steve Arnold (of Purchase, NY) with well over half a million dollars in his first season—$662,587 to be exact in just nine career starts.

Elliott, 53, who conditions his horses at New Jersey’s Showplace Farm year round, says Donato Hanover has "been a good horse since day one."

"He’s a horse who thoroughly enjoys his work, and he’s always happy and healthy," Elliott notes. "Throughout the season he never really got tired and he was never hurt. It’s great being able to race horses like him."

Donato Hanover was foaled on May 3, 2004 at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania, the second foal out of the Donerail broodmare D Train, making him a half brother to $365,541 winner Here Comes Herbie. That son of Credit winner took a freshman mark of 1:56f and a sophomore mark of 1:52 en route to eight career wins.

After a pair of Meadowlands qualifying efforts Donato Hanover finished third in his pari-mutuel debut on June 22 at The Big M in a $5,000 baby race with Ron Pierce at the lines, trotting in 1:59.1.

"He was a mature colt right from the get-go," Pierce says. "During the season he was always very well-mannered and nice to drive. This colt knows exactly what to do, he has a ton of speed, and was never in a spot where he really got tired."

On June 29 Donato Hanover went postward again, this time in the $55,675 Harriman Cup, winning by half a length over Strive For Perfect in 1:57.2. He then stepped behind the gate on July 19 in a Big M $5,000 baby race, this time scoring in 1:56.4 for Pierce, half a length in front of Mythical Lindy at the wire.

Next came the $20,000 elimination for the Peter Haughton, which Donato Hanover took easily in 1:56.2, besting his rivals by three and a quarter lengths on July 26. In the $456,000 Haughton Final on August 3, the colt made a bold move at the half for Pierce to eventually draw off by nearly three lengths in his seasonal best of 1:55.

"What’s so great about Donato is that he won all of his starts so effortlessly," Pierce notes. "He was so much better than the rest of the colts in his division, that all you had to do was feed him racetrack and he did the rest."

After the Haughton, Elliott gave his trotting star a month rest before tuning him up with a September 19 qualifier at The Red Mile, with Steve in the sulky. The youngster won that easily in 1:59 by nearly 16 lengths over Lexington’s famed oval.

Donato Hanover then left no doubt as to his dominance, sweeping the final four starts of his freshman campaign easily. He first won the $82,800 Bluegrass Stakes on September 28 in 1:57.4 and followed that up with a 1:57.2 victory in the $79,500 International Stallion Stakes on October 5—both wins coming at Lexington. He then won both his Breeders Crown elim (in 1:56.2) and the $600,000 final at Woodbine Raceway in Canada (in 1:56) impressively.

"I only had one anxious moment with him all year," Pierce says. "That was in the Breeders Crown final when I had to move him out, and I moved him a little quick and he was off balance for just a split-second. Otherwise, every other race was just a piece of cake for him."

"He’s a very special colt and I really think he’ll come back sharp at three," Pierce adds. "Steve (trainer Elliott) has brought him along so well and so carefully and made sure this colt was never stressed. He’s set him up perfectly for a great three-year-old campaign."

"The only thing we did with this horse all season was play with his shoes," Elliott explains. "I just kept trying to get him better and better with each start and I was never really satisfied with his shoeing. First he had an open toed shoe on and then I changed it to a bar shoe with a rim pad, and then later changed that to a bar shoe with a rim pad a little borium."

Elliott, a native of Detroit, Michigan has trained the winners of $11.2 million to date, and while 2006 has been his best year by far—with winners of $2,989,389—in 1988 he also conditioned a little trotter by the name of Valley Victory.

"I always said that a horse like Valley Victory comes along once in a trainer’s lifetime, and I was lucky enough to have trained him," Elliott says. "Now, to get a horse like Donato Hanover, well, that’s just icing on the cake."

Valley Victory was named the Freshman Champion of 1983, after a season which saw him earn $225,724 with a mark of 1:57.2.

Elliott says that Donato Haonver is turned out at the present and will start prepping near the end of February for his three-year-old campaign, which includes, among others, trotting’s most prestigious prize, the Hambletonian.

"We’re looking for an awful big year from him in 2007," Elliott says.

Donato Hanover's Career Statistics
Year Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds Earnings Record Date & Venue of Record
2006 9 8 0 1 $662,587 2, 1:55.0M M 08/03/2006