World champ in a class of his own

WORLD Champion Bulldog Hanover travelled back to Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino to take on nine rivals in the $315,000 Dan Patch Stakes today and delivered what fans came to see.

The superstar produced an authoritative 1:48.1 performance in front of a packed house to complete a two-and-three-quarter length victory over Rockyroad Hanover.

Driven by Dexter Dunn, it was Bulldog Hanover’s first performance since his 1:45.4 world-record win in the William Haughton Memorial four weeks ago.

It was also Bulldog Hanover’s seventh straight victory and stamped his name in the Harrah’s Hoosier Park record books.

Leaving from post three, 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 seconds.

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 positions.

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 seconds.

Reaching the three-quarters in 1:22.3, Bulldog Hanover was simply in a class of his own.

Workin Ona Mystery held on for third.

“Working with a horse like him makes my job very easy,” Dunn said. “We got away cleanly and handily, and once I moved him, I had a handful of horse.

“The further he seems to go, the better he is. He’s putting in these big miles and going fast times and it really doesn’t seem to be bothering him. He bounces back and does it again and again.

“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.”

Trainer Jack Darling made the trip with his stable standout and was on hand in the winners’ circle.

“He doesn’t take a lot of maintenance,” Darling 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 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.”

Bulldog Hanover’s win earned him an automatic nomination to the 2022 edition of the $175,000 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby slated for September 23.

Owned in partnership by Jack Darling Stables LTD and Bradley Grant, the son of Shadow Play has won 22 of his 29 starts and pushed his bankroll to $1,431,025.

• EMILY RATCLIFF