Bulldog Hanover Unleashes a Jaw Dropping Performance in The Dan Patch Stakes at Harrah’s Hoosier Park
Bulldog Hanover Wins 2022 Dan Patch Stakes
ANDERSON, Ind.—August 13, 2022—World Champion Bulldog Hanover traveled back to Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino to take on nine rivals in the $315,000 Dan Patch Stakes on Friday, August 12 and delivered what the fans came to see—an authoritative 1:48.1 performance in front of a packed house. Finishing under wraps with Dexter Dunn in the bike, Bulldog Hanover cruised to a two and three-quarter length victory over Rockyroad Hanover and Todd McCarthy.
Leaving from post three in the talented field of ten, Dunn sent Bulldog Hanover away from the gate to grab a spot along the rail in third. David Miller had Workin On A Mystery pointed to the front and they grabbed the early lead through the opening panel in :26. This Is The Plan and Yannick Gingras also left sharply to grab a pocket seat from post nine while the rest of the field sorted out early position.
Approaching the half, Bulldog Hanover was given the green light and he powered up to take the lead at the second station in :54.3. From there, he began to put his talent on display. Reaching the three-quarters in 1:22.3, Bulldog Hanover was on top by a length and his lead was ever-increasing. Rockyroad Hanover was on the attack from first-over but would have too much work to do. Using a :25.3 closing kick, Bulldog Hanover simply paced away from the field to reach the wire in front. Rockyroad Hanover was forced to settle for second place honors while Workin Ona Mystery held on for third. As the 1-5 favorite, Bulldog Hanover returned $2.40 to his backers at the betting windows.
“No, there was never really an anxious moment,” Dunn continued. “I knew with the way he felt it was going to take a pretty big effort from one of the others to chase him down. He did it pretty easy tonight.”
“He doesn’t take a lot of maintenance,” he noted. “His caretaker is with him all the time and we just try to do what we can to keep him happy We love it here at Hoosier (Harrah’s Hoosier Park) and Bulldog likes it too. He has another start here in a few weeks so we will be back. He’s got the Canadian Pacing Derby up next in two weeks at Mohawk and then we will be back here for the Hoosier Park Pacing Derby.”
With the victory, Bulldog Hanover recieved an automatic nomination to the 2022 edition of the $175,000 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby slated for Saturday, Sept. 23 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Bulldog Hanover is now undefeated in five starts over the Hoosier Park oval. The victory was the first Dan Patch win for trainer Jack Darling and driver Dexter Dunn. Bulldog Hanover is owned in partnership by Jack Darling Stables LTD and Bradley Grant. The son of Shadow Play—Bj’s Squall has now won 22 of 29 lifetime starts and pushed his lifetime bankroll to $1,431,025.
The race proved to be the perfect ending to a sensational evening of harness racing in front of a packed house for the 29th edition of Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s premier harness racing event. The evening’s 15-race card produced a Dan Patch record handle of $1,568,105 besting the total handle of $1,481,330 from 2021.