Trotting up a storm coming four-wide from the back of the six-pack, Charlie Is A Joker scored a 10-1 upset victory in the $11,500 Preferred 2 early Sunday evening (March 25) at Flamboro Downs.

Leaving from the inside post position, Fox Valley Veto assumed command with 6-5 favourite Class Me Nice settling for a pocket ride before 7-5 second choice Noble Legend moved from third. The rest of the field followed in post position order with Charlie Is A Joker, driven by Bob McClure, trailing early on.

After a :28.1 first quarter, Noble Legend took over the lead and raced the past half in :57.3 and three-quarters in 1:28 with Muscle Matters challenging outside. Turning for home, Seeyou Men rallied three-wide off cover and Charlie Is A Joker fanned four-deep as they raced to the finish. Seeyou Men and Charlie Is A Joker pulled ahead in deep stretch with the latter prevailing in 1:58.2 by a neck. Fox Valley Veto finished two and three-quarter lengths behind in third.

The odds-on favourite in his last start on March 4 in Flamboro's Preferred 2 where he broke stride, Charlie Is A Joker rebounded with a $23.50 win as the longest shot on the board this time out.

Ben Baillargeon trains the 10-year-old Angus Hall gelding, who added a victory to his seasonal record which also includes two runner-up finishes from six starts. A 42-time career winner with earnings in excess of $580,000, Charlie Is A Joker is owned and was bred by Thomas and Elizabeth Rankin of St. Catharines, Ont.

Trained by Scott Friend and owned by Tyler Friend, even-money favourite Lets Wait And See wired a field of Preferred 3 pacers, winning the $8,500 secondary feature in 1:54.1 with Colin Kelly aboard. The win was the Shadow Play gelding's second in a row and third this year from eight starts. In Spades journeyed first-over to finish second and Hidden Potential followed in third off a pocket trip.

Flamboro's leading trainer Patrick Shepherd enjoyed a string of success on Sunday night's 10-race program winning races six through eight with Carl Kuepfer's Fern Hill Breeze ($5.60), Lumiere ($7.80) and Clone The Tone ($3.40). Shepherd's brother Robert drove his first two winners plus two more for a driving grand slam.

To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Flamboro Downs.