Son of Dragon Again sprints home in feature

Dovuto Hanover sprinted home in 26 seconds flat after a rated middle half on the way to an impressive 1-length harness racing victory in 1:50.1 in the featured $15,000 conditioned pace at the Meadowlands Saturday night.

Big M leading driver Scott Zeron urged the son of Dragon Again to the top in :27.1. Unpressured from there, Zeron guided the 6-year-old to the half in :56 and three-quarters in 1:24.1.

Flexing his considerable back-class muscles after that tepid :57 middle half, Dovuto Hanover then exploded home in the stretch to keep the fast-closing Pansformative and Ashley's Husband at bay to record his first win of the year in five starts for owner Martin Scharf and trainer Nifty Norman.

Dovuto Hanover, who returned $4.20 as the even-money public choice, has won 17 of 59 lifetime outings for earnings of just over $468,000.

McArdles Lightning ($11.40) extended his win streak to three in the secondary feature, a $13,000 conditioned pace, by moving past 4/5 favorite Real Nice at the three-eighth-mile marker and never looked back on the way to a dominant 3 1/4-length score in a lifetime-best 1:49.2. Odds On Equuleus outkicked Real Nice for second.

All-source wagering on the card was $3,050,070, which represents an increase of $408,844 over the corresponding program from a year ago. The 12th race Jackpot Super High Five was again not hit, upping the carryover to $164,848.59.

Live racing returns to the Big M Friday, with a first race post time of 7:15 p.m.

by Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations