After winning the Presidential Series by a head at the Meadowlands and finishing fourth by just a neck in last week’s Preferred Pace at Woodbine Racetrack, Alexie Mattosie was involved in another close finish in this week's $35,000 Preferred Pace - one that resulted in a new Canadian season's record
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Alexie Mattosie, driven by Paul MacDonell, fired off the gate from Post 7 on a snowy Saturday night and found himself three-wide going into the first turn. Pressing on past the :26.1 opening quarter, the five-year-old gelding took control ahead of Lennon Blue Chip (Mark MacDonald) and Real Mean Art (Luc Ouellette).
As Alexie Mattosie attempted to catch a breather during the second interval, favourite Sparky Mark (Jody Jamieson) rolled up from fourth at the :55 half-mile mark and cleared the lead leaving Kindly Poet (Scott Zeron) without cover past 1:22.1 the third station.
Finding racing room with an eighth of a mile to go, Alexie Mattosie came on to score, edging out Strand Hanover (Simon Allard), who rallied off cover, by a nose in 1:50.2. Sparky Mark finished one length behind in third. The time of the mile set a new Canadian season's record, lowering Sparky Mark's record, set last week in the Preferred 2 Pace, by two-fifths of a second.
Alexie Mattosie paid $7 to win as the 5-2 second choice. The son of No Pan Intended-Dame Crombie is trained by Don Lindsey, who also co-owns with Paul Kleinpaste of Orangeville, Ont., Dennis Mavrin of Woodbridge, Ont. and William Alempijevic of Portland, Oregon. He is now three-for-six on the year with over $111,000 earned. Lifetime, he has won 21 times good for $425,345 in earnings.
Earlier on the card, Mr Saratoga swept first up from fourth down the backstretch en route to winning the $28,000 Preferred 2 Pace in 1:52.1. Driven by Phil Hudon for trainer Tony Montini, the seven-year-old son of Million Dollar Cam-Miss Sara Toga won by a length and a quarter over Our Lucky Killean (Mark MacDonald) and World Away (Mike Saftic).
He paid $5.70 to win as the 9-5 favourite in the field. The victory was his second in six seasonal starts and lifted his earnings to over $38,000 for Onlineharnessowner Com 7 of Uxbridge, Ont. With his 27th victory lifetime, he went over the $600,000 mark in career earnings.
To view Canada's fastest horses this season, click here.
For results from Saturday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.