Ontario's Glamour Boys invaded Grand River Raceway on Wednesday evening with divisional leader Mach It So setting a new track record in his $105,000 Gold event.
Mach It So lowered the track record for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings to 1:51.4. The son of Mach Three shaved two-fifths of a second off the mark that Champagne Phil established on Aug. 16 in a Grassroots event.
Driven by Scott Zeron, Mach It So released early leaver Duc Dorleans (Sylvain Filion) before taking over command past the contested :26.2 opening quarter. The 1-5 favourite then carved out middle splits of :55.1 and 1:23.2 while turning back first over Trys Little Prince (Mike Saftic) en route to the one and a quarter length victory. Duc Dorleans finished second with Tarpon Hanover (Jody Jamieson) rallying wide around the fading first over attacker before dropping into third down the stretch.
Richard 'Nifty' Norman trains Mach It So for owner Bamond Racing Llc of Brick, New Jersey. Now eight-for-11 this year with a perfect OSS record, the bay gelding has pushed his career bankroll to $371,337.
He paid $2.50 to win.
Tony Alagna trainee Validus Deo earned his first Gold Series win in the other division with Zeron sweeping the final leg.
Ok Fantastic (Rick Zeron) fronted the field through fractions of :27, :55.1 and 1:24.1 while favourite Windsong Jack (Billy Davis Jr.) was left parked out. Validus Deo fanned wide around the final turn with Up Up And Out (Sylvain Filion) even wider and the outside pair sprinted home into a win photo. Validus Deo had the slight edge, scoring by a neck in 1:53.4. Up Up And Out settled for runner-up honours while OK Fantastic rounded out the top three finishers just a half-length behind.
The Lis Mara colt was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling at the Harrisburg Sale by the Cheap Speed Stable of Steger, Illinois and Alan Alber of Thornhill, Ont. He's since gone from being a two-time Grassroots winner at two to a Gold champion at three with purse earnings soaring to $144,986.
Validus Deo paid $11.60 to win.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Grand River Raceway.