Du Quoin, IL --- It took a race-off to decide the $550,000 World
Trotting Derby for three-year-old trotting colts at the Du Quoin
(Illinois) State Fair on Saturday, but Andover Hall and Trevor
Ritchie won the test of speed and endurance by a head over Like A
Prayer in 1:54. Andover Hall is trained by Bob Stewart for owner
Erkki Laakkonen of Georgetown, Ontario.

In the first heat, Like A Prayer and driver Ron Pierce came from off
the pace set by Malabar Maple in :272, :553, and1:242 and charged
hard down the outside of the track to win by a nose in 1:522 over the
betting favorite Kadabra (David Miller) and Hambletonian winner Chip
Chip Hooray (Eric Ledford) in third.

Like A Prayer's trainer Brett Pelling had hoped for a chance to come
from off the pace. "We didn't want to get caught up in the speed.
He's a very strong horse. He's always trotted to the wire. We were
just hoping that maybe a couple would battle it out and we would be
there. Winning is a bonus."

Like A Prayer could have won the event with a victory in the second
heat, but Andover Hall and Trevor Ritchie, who finished eighth in the
first heat, had other ideas. Those two went right to the lead and
held it through fractions of :273, :553 and 1:241. He withstood a
challenge from Like A Prayer on the outside and Kadabra on the
inside, but held on to win by a neck in 1:513. Like A Prayer finished
second, Chip Chip Hooray third and Kadabra was fourth.

Owner Erkki Laakkonen was looking for luck in the second heat and he
got it. "All the time, bad luck. But now it changes," he said after
winner's circle ceremonies.

Since the conditions of the World Trotting Derby call for a horse to
win two heats to be declared the race winner, a third heat race-off
was needed between first heat winner Like A Prayer and second heat
winner Andover Hall. Andover Hall was assigned post position one in
that race off by virtue of his finish in the second heat.

In the raceoff, Like A Prayer tucked in behind Andover Hall, letting
him coast in front to the :284 first quarter, through the half mile
mark of :58 and three quarters of 1:264. Halfway through the stretch,
driver Ron Pierce tipped out Like A Prayer from behind Andover Hall
and made a futile bid for a lead. But Andover Hall prevailed by a
head in 1:54.

"The first heat didn't go the way we wanted," said the victorious
trainer Bob Stewart from Victory Lane. "Thank God we race heats. I
didn't lose any confidence in the horse (after a poor showing in the
August 3 Hambletonian where he was favored to win). I truly thought
that he was the best three-year-old all along. He sure went some ways
this time to prove it."