CAMPBELLVILLE: It was as if Bulldog Hanover knew the fans came to Woodbine Mohawk Park just to see him and that he had to deliver for them.
“He felt great tonight,” Dunn said. “He grabbed a hold as he had all year and that gave me a lot of confidence going into that last turn.”This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Trained by Jack Darling, who finally scored his first Crown win, Bulldog Hanover was already a local star going into this year. But a series of very fast wins in New Jersey culminating in his world record mile transcended him into a superstar not seen in the sport in many years.
The race was one of 12 Crown championships contested on Friday and Saturday as harness racing’s championship event returned to Mohawk. And the event belonged to Dunn, who has solidified himself as one of the sport’s premier drivers since relocating to the U.S. from his native New Zealand a few years ago. He had four Crown wins on Saturday.
In the $600,000 three-year-old filly trot, Dunn took Jiggy Jog S to the lead around the turn and held off a stubborn Raised By Lindy to win in a Canadian record 1:51 1/5. It was the eighth win of the season for the Svanstedt trainee who went over $1 million in earnings with the win.Grace Hill, driven by Mohawk’s second-leading driver Doug McNair, pushed her earnings over $1 million in winning the $350,000 open mare pace.
Treacherous Dragon found a seam in between horses in deep stretch to win the $600,000 three-year-old filly pace with former Mohawk regular Scott Zeron driving for trainer Nancy Takter.Article content