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Ken Hanover will look to become the first horse in more than two decades to win the Battle of Lake Erie in back-to-back years.<\/p>\nNorthfield, OH\u00a0\u2013 Forty years of history. A quarter of a million dollars. A field overflowing with champions.<\/p>\n
On Saturday night (June 6), Northfield Park Racino will host the 40th edition of the Battle of Lake Erie (Grade 2), and for the first time in the race\u2019s storied history, the purse will stand at a record $250,000. The milestone renewal has attracted one of the deepest and most accomplished fields ever assembled for Northeast Ohio\u2019s signature pacing event.<\/p>\n
The nine-horse field has combined for more than $11.4 million in career earnings with 211 victories, featuring some of the sport\u2019s biggest stars from the Grand Circuit, state-bred programs, and the sport\u2019s premier pacing series.<\/p>\n
Installed as the 3-1 morning-line\u00a0favorite by Northfield Park Director of Racing Dave Bianconi is Captain Albano, whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 already includes victories in the 2024 Little Brown Jug and Adios (both Grade 1) and the 2026 Borgata Pacing Series (G2). The star pacer enters Saturday\u2019s contest looking to add another major title to an already impressive collection.<\/p>\n
Ken Hanover will look to become the first horse in more than two decades to win the Battle of Lake Erie in back-to-back years.<\/p>\n
Joining him is another Borgata champion, Mossdale Ben N, setting up a highly anticipated showdown between the winners of the last two editions of one of harness racing\u2019s most demanding series.<\/p>\n
Women Layer enters the Battle in the midst of a remarkable two-year run that has established him among the sport\u2019s most consistent performers. A standout on the Kentucky Sires Stakes circuit, the talented pacer has won 17 of his last 23 starts while hitting the board in 22 of those appearances.<\/p>\n
The local contingent is led by Helium N, who has turned Northfield Park into his personal playground in 2026. He has captured seven Open Pace victories over the Flying Turns this season and will look to defend home turf against some of the toughest competition he has faced all year.<\/p>\n
Prince Hal Hanover brings championship credentials of his own into the Battle. The talented pacer captured both the Adios and Northfield Park\u2019s Carl Milstein Memorial (G2) in 2025 and continues to establish himself among the sport\u2019s elite older pacers.<\/p>\n
Defending champion Ken Hanover returns seeking a place in Battle of Lake Erie history. No horse has won consecutive editions of the race since Peruvian Hanover captured back-to-back renewals in 2002 and 2003. A victory on Saturday would make Ken Hanover the first horse in more than two decades to successfully defend the crown.<\/p>\n
For Once Inmy Life is another seasoned veteran who brings plenty of credentials into the Battle. The hard-hitting pacer captured multiple preliminary legs of the 2025 Borgata Pacing Series before adding several Open Pace victories at Plainridge during the 2026 campaign and most recently a third-place finish in the Joe Auger Memorial (G3) behind winner Ken Hanover and Mossdale Ben N.<\/p>\n
Another Little Brown Jug winner lurks in the field in the form of Bythemissal (2022). One of the most accomplished horses in training, Bythemissal owns a remarkable list of major victories including the 2022 Carl Milstein Memorial, the 2022 Ohio Sires Stakes Championship, the 2023 Myron Charna President\u2019s Pace, the 2023 Breeders Crown Open Pace final and the 2025 Joe Auger Memorial.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the star-studded lineup is Huntinthelastdolar, whose career highlights include a 2023 New York Sire Stakes championship and the 2024 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup. He also established himself as a major force in this year\u2019s Borgata Pacing Series, winning multiple preliminary legs before finishing runner-up in the final.<\/p>\n
The horsepower is only part of the story. The drivers competing in this year\u2019s Battle of Lake Erie have a combined\u00a011 victories in the race, adding another layer of prestige to an already loaded renewal. Among them are two of the event\u2019s most successful reinsmen, Matt Kakaley and Brett Miller, who will drive Prince Hal Hanover and Ken Hanover, respectively. Both enter Saturday night seeking a record-setting fifth Battle of Lake Erie triumph, a feat that would strengthen their legacy and place them atop the race\u2019s distinguished list of driving greats.<\/p>\n
The depth of this year\u2019s field is difficult to overstate. Among the starters are a Breeders Crown champion, multiple Sire Stakes champions, a Kentucky Sires Stakes standout, the winners of the last two Borgata Pacing Series finals, the top two finishers from the 2026 Borgata championship, two Little Brown Jug winners, and the defending Battle of Lake Erie champion.<\/p>\n
Every horse brings a championship-caliber r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Every driver brings big-race experience. With a record purse on the line and a field packed with proven stars, the 40th Battle of Lake Erie has all the ingredients to produce one of the most memorable editions in the race\u2019s rich history.<\/p>\n
Northfield Park will kick off the 16-race card at 6 p.m. (EDT) and will also feature Charity Night presented by the Ohio Harness Horseman\u2019s Association. Nine different charities will be featured, each having the opportunity to win up to $10,000.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the Battle of Lake Erie field with morning-line odds:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line
1. Women Layer \u2013 Luke Hanners \u2013 Virgil Morgan Jr. \u2013 6-1
2. Mossdale Ben N \u2013 Jim Marohn Jr. \u2013 Peter Tritton \u2013 4-1
3. Captain Albano \u2013 Todd McCarthy \u2013 Noel Daley \u2013 3-1
4. Helium N \u2013 Dan Noble \u2013 Christi Noble \u2013 12-1
5. Prince Hal Hanover \u2013 Matt Kakaley \u2013 Dr. Ian Moore \u2013 9-2
6. Ken Hanover \u2013 Brett Miller \u2013 Roland Mallar \u2013 7-2
7. For Once Inmy Life \u2013 Jordan Stratton \u2013 Cory Stratton \u2013 15-1
8. Bythemissal \u2013 Chris Page \u2013 Ron Burke \u2013 20-1
9. Huntinthelastdolar \u2013 Tyler Smith \u2013 Per Engblom \u2013 10-1
Note: Huntinthelastdolar starts from the second tier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northfield, OH\u00a0\u2013 Forty years of history. A quarter of a million dollars. A field overflowing with champions. On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-211933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}