On Monday, April 29, at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Patriarch Hanover, also known as Father Patrick, stood up to win a fiercely contested $32,000 Preferred-2 Trot, causing a 9-1 upset in harness racing.
Doug McNair's stallion started off the fastest, but he lost the lead to Looks Like Moni (James MacDonald), who reached the quarter in :27. With the first over Perfetto (Dagfin Henriksen) moving forward and Southwind Coors (Chris Christoforou) swinging three-wide as the half approached in :55.4, a three-wide struggle began down the backstretch. Perfetto quickly overtook the halfway mark, but he did not let the more favoured Southwind Coors to pass, and they engaged in a fierce battle at the last bend.
Patriarch Hanover held off the challenger as he sat third over in an outer flow of five heading into the third quarter in 1:23.4. The field fanned six-wide coming down the lane with four horses closing on the leaders, and Patriarch Hanover produced the strongest late charge. In the last few metres, he took the lead and managed to hold off Bob McClure's Franks Angel to win in 1:52.1.
Franks Angel overtook Looks Like Moni in the end, closing from eighth place.
Since 2022, Patriarch Hanover has competed in races inside and around the upper level at Woodbine Mohawk Park. His first victory in a Preferred or Free For All since May 2023 came on Monday. He is trained by Richard Moreau for Brad Grant of Milton. The seven-year-old stallion has earned $832,971 and is currently 25-for-152 in his lifetime.
Additionally, Royal Regatta (Mcardle) won his seventh straight race. With James MacDonald in the lead, he prevailed throughout, holding off two rivals in the final stretch to win by a length and a quarter in 1:52.3. Nancy McGuire, who had owned the gelding for his previous three victories, turned it over to Michael Strasbourg. Over the course of his 198 starts, Royal Regatta has earned $309,395 and won 39 of them. He was taught the most recent tally by Clifford McGuire.