Luke Hanners drives Zidane Kemp to a win in Tuesday’s first race at Dayton Raceway. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The leading driver at Dayton Raceway admits that he doesn’t look at the odds on the tote board, and he doesn’t care who he beats. Even his own brother. But Press Pros did catch up with Luke Hanners.
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Dayton, OH — Three men, all wearing baseball caps, sat at a metal picnic table with stubby golf pencils scribbling notes in the margins of their Dayton Raceway programs.
“Who ya like?” asked the one wearing a red sweat shirt with a huge target on the front.
“Dunno yet,” said the one with a long gray pony tail dangling from under his hat. “Still checking.”
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The third one, his feet adorned with yellow Nike sneakers with a blue swoosh wasn’t asked, but volunteered, “Luke Hanners is driving the favorite Zidane Kemp. And he’s the leading driver. But I don’t like the short odds.”
He spotted me standing near a fence guarding the track and asked, “Who ya picking?”
That’s the way of many bettors at harness tracks. They ask strangers for advice, any bit of information they might gather.
“I like the No. 2,” I said, referring to Hanners and Zidane Kemp.
“Ah, not me,” he said. “I’m taking the three, Full Moon,” he said. Full moon was a 15-1 long shot, driven by Austin Hanners, an older brother to Luke Hanners.
Bad choice.
Zidane Kemp and Luke Hanners was first-over and long gone, wire-to-wire. They were three lengths ahead turning for home and won by six lengths.
Austin Hanners and Full Moon were, uh, eclipsed, far up the track in the $20,000 trot.
“Nice call,” said yellow sneakers.
A few minutes passed and I returned from cashing my ticket, $32 for my $20 wager, certainly not a get-rich quick maneuver.
“Who ya like in the second,” asked red cap.
Once again Luke Hanners was the morning line favorite behind Grape Eighty Nine.
“I’m going with Luke Hanners again,” I said.
“I really don’t look at the tote board,” says Hanners about added pressure of short oddds. “But it’s more fun to get a longer shot home.”
All three nodded their heads but said nothing.
Bad choice on my part this time.
Grape Eighty Nine didn’t have it. Matt And Luke, with Kayne Kauffman in the sulky, barged to a quick lead and maintained it for 5,275 feet.
In the last five feet of the $11,000 pace, Darren Dowler behind Barcelona Legend roared past Matt And Luke to take it at the wire.
No more “Who ya gots?” from my three short-lived friendship with the the guy. They kept their noses buried in the their programs.
Got me thinking, always a dubious process.
Do drivers pay attention to the morning line odds and what effect does it have on them, if any.
What better guy to ask than Luke Hanners, the favorite in the first two races. After winning the first race, he also won race 9, a $13,000 pace as the second choice guiding Twin B Manhunt and he won race 13, a $10,000 pace as the favorite driving Dancin Dude.
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That gave Hanners 46 wins at the early stages of the Dayton Raceway season, three ahead of Chris Page for the Dayton driving championship.
“So far, yes, but it’s a long meet,” said Hanners of his early lead “We have until December, but we are off to a good start. I haven’t ever won a driver’s championship at any track. This would be a first and that would be cool.”
After winning the first race by six lengths, Hanners said, “That’s a really nice horse. The owner just acquired him not long ago and has done a great job with him so far.”
It was Zidane Kem’s third win it is last four starts and ninth win in 20 starts this season.
About a driver’s attitude as a race favorite, Hanners said, “I check the sheets in the morning when it comes out, mostly for changes. Other than that, I don’t really look (at the odds) until I get here. I don’t really pay attention to the odds.
“It doesn’t put any extra pressure on me because I don’t even look at the tote board,” he added. “I like to do just as good with a 6-1 or 7-1 long shot as I do with the favorite.
“It’s a little more rewarding to me when you get a longer shot home,” he said.
While Luke got the best of big brother Austin in the first race, Austin produced the race-of-the-day in race three, a $20,000 conditioned pace for 2-year-olds.
What’s Luke Hanners like most about driving standardbreds? “Winning,” he says, confidently.
Not only did Austin Hanners push heavy favorite Crazygirlsburnsage to victory, they set a track record for 2-year-old geldings at 1:51.1. Luke Hanners finished up the track.
So what kind of relationship do the Brothers Hanners have?
“It’s happened,” said Luke about finishing behind Austin. “But I try to not let it happen too often. I try to do it to him. I want to beat everybody out there, so yeah, there’s a rivalry, but I like to see everyone do good.”
Right now, Luke Hanners is the do-good guy at Dayton.
When he was 17, he won his first race at the Champaign County Fair driving Save Me A Place. “I got the early lead that was kind of it,” he said.
It was apropos. Hanners is saved many places in races these day. He won his first pro race when he was 18 and it was on the Dayton track.
“Scioto Down is my favorite track,” he said. “But I like Dayton (5/8ths mile track),” he said. “This is a good track, too. You can drive it like a half-mile. It has shorter straights. It’s a good track. They keep it pretty well. The horses scan carry their speed well.”
Since that day he won his first pro race on the Dayton track, he has won more than 1,200 races, more than $14 million in purses, nearing $2 million this year.
Hanners is not one to smile and had to force one when asked to at least grin while posing for a photograph.
Perhaps he smiles as he crossed a finish line first, but who knows. There is one thing he does know when asked what he likes most about driving standardbred steeds.
“Winning,” he said. And he smiled broadly.
So at least he has smile more than 1,200 times…and counting.
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