Rooney Snags Six Pack At Sarnia
Driver Garrett Rooney dominated the Saturday, May 11 card at Hiawatha Horse Park by winning six of the 10 races programmed.
Rooney swept Lyons Fullhouse ($7.20) off cover to win the opener in 2:00 over a track rated "good". A couple of races later, Rooney hit a natural grand slam by taking the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth races with Seymour Little ($11.50; 1:59.2), Regal Luck ($6.80; 1:55.4), Amazing Quest ($9.70; 1:56.4) and Keaton ($5.10; 1:57). I C Anastro ($4.80) gave Rooney a fitting blowout to his Saturday-night smack down, cruising to a nine-and-a-half length victory in 1:56.3 to win the nightcap.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.
He was more than just about
He was more than just about getting 6 wins on the night. He was genuinely friendly with my son and I. Hopefully more signings, photo ops, etc. might get people to know what I have known for awhile at least at Hiawatha and that is these drivers, trainers and owners are so friendly if you approach them in the right manner like you should with anyone else.
Here is what I shared on Facebook:
"Garrett Rooney thanks so much for making the night a special one for my son, Peyton. He was nervous in the backstretch and I got him to relax by reaching out to you for him there at first. A good deed done by a very good driver. 6 wins tonight on a 10 race card. WOW! Like you said he could be / is / was your good luck charm. So the start of a really good season again here at Hiawatha Horse Park in Sarnia and no surprise to both my son and I. The banter back and forth trackside was fun. It brought us many smiles. Also the time you took to talk to us in the backstretch was informative and nice. Sorry if we held you up from getting important race instructions but it didn't seem to hurt your night at all. BTW confirmed .... whips can hurt LOL!
PS: Forgot to get a photo of him with you but memories like this are not forgotten by him nor I."
Also an owner / trainer from Leamington on the backstretch was so friendly and informative tonight when speaking with her. In the past talking it up with Borth, Williams, and Rankin Jr. at a signing event upstairs at Hiawatha Horse Park was fun in different ways. They gave me the time to express certain things and I had a very interesting interaction with Rankin Jr. LOL! Anyway hopefully the government follows through on adding more slots to the tracks they promised them to again to keep the tracks going because honestly with how the horsemen treat fans and with how hard their job is traveling all over so many days a week they deserve more money for what they do.
Anyway ... Garrett Rooney didn't win 6 times tonight ... He won 7 times with the one win being a good ambassador for the sport.