Yearling sales have a way of dividing people. Buyers and sellers are naturally on opposing sides. Then there are buyers who come prepared to spend from six-to-seven figures while others looked to find more reasonably-priced horses. Together the goal is to take an unproven horse with looks and pedigree and make something happen on the racetrack. For trainers and longtime friends Erv Miller and John Butenschoen, each fall has found them coming together to purchase a single yearling pacer and trotter for co-ownership. "Erv takes the pacer and John takes the trotter," said Atlee Bender, a 29-year-old horseman who currently handles the 3-year-old trotter Mallard Hanover, a product of that relationship. The pair of trainers were hanging around the back ring at Harrisburg at the 2019 auction watching horses go into the ring. "I saw him in the ring and the bidding was at $8,000 and I looked at Erv and asked if there was anything wrong with this colt," said Butenschoen, who along with Miller spend many hours canvassing the farms preparing for the auction. "I said I'm going to bid on him and before I turned around the bidding was back to $4,000." The hammer came down at $7,000 and Butenschoen took the son of Swan For All to Florida for the winter. "He trained down like a good horse and went in 2:03 before we came north," said Butenschoen. "I trained him up here in 2:03 again but he got sore and we decided to quit with him." So the unraced Mallard Hanover tried again this past winter and by spring was ready to qualify. "John put him in a qualifier and since the horse was going to Indiana he put me down to drive," said Bender, who after spending some six years working for Erv Miller in Pennsylvania was given the assignment of assisting training a large group of horses in the Midwest. "He just told me to sit and let him trot at the end," continued Bender. Mallard Hanover's first taste of competition was a 2:03 victory at Southern Oaks Training Center on March 16 in a field of four and hardly gave a clue of what type of horse he would become in the next two months. "That first race at Hoosier was kind of incredible," said Bender. "We were just way back at the half and he took off that last quarter and wanted to chase the other horses down." It was just a non-winners-of-one for Mallard Hanover on April 7 but the gelding came from well back to post a 1:56 4/5 final time. More impressive was the 26 3/5 final quarter, a lot more inspirational than the 2:03 clocking just a few weeks earlier. For Bender, getting the chance to drive this horse sort of came by accident. "Trace (Tetrick) was given the chance to drive him," said Bender. "But he asked what kind of horse he was, and I really couldn't tell him." Thus, Bender got in the bike, despite confessing to getting more satisfaction from the training side of the business as opposed to driving. Mallard Hanover has continued to progress since his debut and he along with Bender captured the next three races at Hoosier with the same calmness and blistering late speed they had exhibited in the debut. On May 12, in the final of an early-closer at Hoosier Park, the cards appeared stacked against Mallard Hanover having drawn post eight and perhaps speed compromised by his off-the-pace style. Bender got him to settle fourth in the early stages but that allowed Trace Tetrick to set a 57 2/5 half with Illini Earl. Mallard Hanover would be tested for the first time in this mile, first going by the pacesetter in the accelerated final half and then having to hold off the charging Katkin Morgan near the wire. The 1:53 3/5 clocking was his fastest at the time and certainly gave indication of better to come. Still, last Friday's first round of the Indiana Sire Stakes was expected to be a severe test, with returning horses from last year's division having experience at this level that Mallard Hanover clearly lacked. Bender and Mallard Hanover proved to be calm and cool once again despite the bigger stage. "I just let him sit and relax the first half," said Bender. "This time when we got to the half he was asking me to come out." Mallard Hanover settled in fourth in the early stages then advanced on the final turn before hitting high gear in the homestretch. Bender remained just a passenger as Mallard Hanover effortlessly rolled over the field and stopped the timer in 1:52 4/5. It would be the fastest clocking for the horse as well as the young driver, who was more than shocked by the final time. "I saw 1:50 as we were passing the toteboard," said Bender, knowing full well there was just a short distance left until the finish line. "I'd driven trotters in 1:55 and 1:56, but never one this fast." While Bender is excited about the future for Mallard Hanover he recognizes he may not be driving him in every start. The Miller stable in Indiana has 53-head with Bender assisting Emanuel Hernandez. "We've got horses eligible in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois," said Bender. "There are going to be times I'm driving in Illinois." While a perfect five-for-five at this point, there's a long road ahead to prove just what Mallard Hanover will become. For Butenschoen, it's been a fun ride thus far. "It's been a lot of fun watching him. He's going to get beaten eventually, they all do," said Butenschoen, who is as surprised as anyone as to how well Mallard Hanover has progressed in such a short period of time. Considering he was just a $7,000 yearling colt that was unraced as a 2-year-old, Butenschoen and Miller, along with partner George Golemes, had to make some major decisions this past February when stakes payments were due. "You know there are people who say you can never make a mistake by over-staking a horse," said Butenschoen. "Then again you can look kind of stupid after staking a horse that can only trot in 1:55." The February date came and passed, and no payment was made for Mallard Hanover to this year's Hambletonian. In hindsight that missed payment could be a blessing should Mallard Hanover rise the ranks in Indiana's lucrative sires program.