While George Napolitano Jr. has accumulated nearly 12,000 wins in his career, he doesn't venture far from his home track of Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania to drive horses. On Saturday night there will be a rare exception as Napolitano Jr. will follow world champion Ruthless Hanover across state lines into Ohio where he'll tackle a stellar field in the $200,000 Battle Of Lake Erie. The 6-year-old Ruthless Hanover has arguably never been better during his career, and Napolitano Jr. is along for the ride but not for the reasons many would have expected. "The owners have been very good to my family," Napolitano Jr. stated as the reason he will be at Northfield Park on Saturday night. It's the first time for the veteran driver to compete at the Cleveland-area track, but that hardly means he will be at a disadvantage as Ruthless Hanover is fresh off a five-eighths-track world record 1:46 3/5 career-best in winning the Joe Auger Memorial on May 28 at Harrah's Philadelphia. "I knew he had a good week heading into that race," said Napolitano Jr. of the record mile. "He scored down great." In a race that on paper looked competitive, Ruthless Hanover was off by himself from the start, establishing control in a 25 2/5 opening quarter and never looking back, completing his mile with a 27 1/5 final quarter. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter With four wins in five starts this year, Saturday's Battle Of Lake Erie will be the Ruthless Hanover's second trip to Ohio. His first amounted to a defeat in the Wizard Invitational at Miami Valley, an outcome Napolitano explained came with an excuse. "He tied up in that race," said Napolitano. "It was a 10-hour ship and he was dehydrated." Ruthless Hanover cut the pace in that May 6 event and was caught on the wire by two horses, Little Rocket Man and This Is The Plan. Both of those horses are in the nine-horse lineup on Saturday night in the Battle Of Lake Erie. With post five Ruthless Hanover should have a good angle to the first turn and may just have more explosive early speed than any in this field. "He's a much stronger horse this year," said Napolitano of Ruthless Hanover, a son of Somebeachsomewhere. "He's got extreme speed." Northfield fans will be able to see that speed in full display, and the basic question is just how many in the field can stay with Ruthless Hanover to have a chance to overtake him in the shorter stretch. One horse that has already proven himself over this track is world champion and track-record holder This Is The Plan. The 8-year-old established the track and world mark of 1:47 3/5 in this very race in 2021 but may find the going a bit different this time around, having landed post nine in the second tier. That will likely compromise driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr.'s strategy, at least early in the mile. Little Rocket Man landed post two as he looks for his sixth straight victory. The 7-year-old by Rockin Image has won eight of his 10 starts this year, including the Wizard Invitational where he rallied from well back to collar Ruthless Hanover in the stretch despite starting from post eight. Camluck Classic champion Covered Bridge has been reborn this year for trainer Jeff Gillis and enters the Battle in brilliant form, having won five of his last six starts. The 7-year-old son of American Ideal drew post six and has Tyler Buter in the bike. Lochinvar Art A has proven himself on all sized tracks since arriving in the Shane Tritton stable this year. A third-place finisher behind Ruthless Hanover in the Auger Memorial, Lochinvar Art A landed post four in the Battle Of Lake Erie with regular pilot Lauren Tritton in the sulky. Leonidas A, one of two horses (This Is The Plan) that return from competing in last year's Battle, found a draw much more kind to him than last year's seven-hole draw. Leonidas A starts from the pole position with Austin Siegelman, his regular pilot, in the bike once again. Leonidas A has been on the board in 11 of 12 starts this year and is a noted half-mile track specialist. Multiple MGM Borgata Series leg winner Backstreet Shadow was powerless to win that rich final, having drawn post eight. Since then, trainer Travis Alexander has given the veteran time off, and he qualified on May 31 in preparation for the Battle. "The layoff helped him because he raced all winter," said Alexander, who will have driver Matt Kakaley behind Backstreet Shadow from post three in his first pari-mutuel effort since April 24. The impressive collection in this year's Battle Of Lake Erie is rounded out by a pair of millionaires with the lone 4-year-old I Did It Myway (post seven) and Charlie May (post eight) entering the race in great form but needing to overcome some obvious obstacles to succeed. I Did It Myway just captured a Kentucky Sire Stakes 4-year-old final at Oak Grove on May 29, while Charlie May is looking for his first win of the year, having finished second in two high-class events at Scioto Downs. The 15-race Northfield Park program gets underway at 6:00 p.m. with an undercard that includes a pair of Ohio Sires Stakes events for 3-year-old male trotters and a $50,000 Buckeye Distaff for open pacing mares.