A runner-up in his last two Preferred starts, Nickle Bag went first up and was first home to score his initial win of the year in Saturday night's top class at Woodbine Racetrack.
Making his fourth start of the year in Saturday's $34,000 Preferred Pace, Nickle Bag delivered as the 9-5 favourite and returned $5.60 to win.
Frankies Dragon (Doug McNair), winner of the last Preferred on Jan. 17, made a quarter-pole move and brushed to command over early leader Avatartist (Mike Saftic) after a :28.1 opening panel, but he eventually gave way in the stretch as the favourite finished strong.
Frankies Dragon had led the field past the half in :57 and three-quarters in 1:24.3 while Nickle Bag employed his usual off-the-pace tactics and advanced from fourth with 13-1 longshot Wazzup Wazzup (Randy Waples) following his cover.
Nickle Bag persisted first over and eventually wore down the tiring leader for the 1:52.4 victory. Wazzup Wazzup followed the winner's cover and finished one length behind in second while Avatartist came through for third. Musselsfrmbrussels (Simon Allard) posted the fastest final quarter, closing from last in :27.2 to finish fourth over Frankies Dragon.
Last year, Nickle Bag earned 11 wins, 12 seconds and six thirds in 47 starts while banking $226,070 in purses. The son of Rocknroll Hanover equalled his lifetime mark of 1:50 in his last victory on Dec. 20.
O'Brien Award finalist Trevor Henry has become the regular driver of the five-year-old gelding, who races from the Shawn Robinson stable for owners Linda Loyens and Harry Loyens.
Saturday night's final race, which included the Jackpot Hi 5 wager, was won by Mach It Big (Jody Jamieson), who converted from a pocket trip and edged out pacesetter Touch Of Lightning (Chris Christoforou) by a neck in 1:52.4 for his seventh straight victory. Topcornerterror (Jonathan Drury) finished just a half-length behind at odds of 39-1 while Johnny Come Lately (Paul MacDonell) and even-money favourite Hes A Sensation (James MacDonald) completed the top five order of finish.
Patrick Shepherd trains the winning seven-year-old son of Mach Three for owner Mikaela Lustic of Cornwall, P.E.I.
The Jackpot Hi 5's 5-6-9-4-2 winning combination paid $6,652.30 for a $1-based wager. Since the entire pool pays out only when there is one winning ticket sold that correctly selects the first five finishers in exact order, Woodbine's Jackpot Hi 5 carryover continues to climb and will be $236,662.59 when harness racing resumes at the Toronto oval on Monday night. First race post time on Monday is 7:25 p.m.
For free, printable program pages for Monday's card of racing, courtesy of TrackIT, click here.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.