With the heavy favourite faltering on the front, Frontier Cruise swept up from mid-pack down the backstretch and cruised home an easy winner in the featured Winners Over Pace on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 13) at Truro Raceway.
Batterup Hanover, the 1-5 favourite in search of his third straight victory in the $2,500 top class, fired to command from the outside post to lead the five-horse field early on for trainer/driver Paul Langille. But after opening fractions of :28.1 and :58, Batterup Hanover uncharacteristically backed through the field while a first-up Frontier Cruise and Robert Laffin took over to command down the backstretch.
Frontier Cruise reached three-quarters in 1:27.4 and opened up 2-1/4 lengths to win in 1:56.2. Thunder Alley (Ernest Laffin) tracked the winner's cover to finish second while the Langille-trained Well Did (Kenneth Parker Jr.), donning the colours of the late Phil Pinkney who passed away one year ago, was third.
Sent off at odds of 7-1, Frontier Cruise returned $16.20 to win.
Owned by trainer Jean R. Belliveau of Dieppe, N.B. and Jean Charles P. Belliveau of Scoudouc, N.B., the five-year-old Sunshine Beach gelding now has earned eight wins and nine other top three finishes from 25 starts this year. The victory was his 18th lifetime and lifted his bankroll to $76,365.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Truro Raceway.