Midnight Assassin built up an insurmountable lead in the early going to secure top honours in the $8,000 Norfolk County Fair final for $4,500 claimers Friday evening over a sloppy Flamboro Downs track

, which was rated two seconds off.

Midnight Assassin fired off the gate from Post 5 and put up a :26.4 opening quarter with trainer Daniel Lehan in the bike. The 4-1 third choice led a strung out field past the half in :55.3 before opening up seven lengths on his rivals by the third quarter mark in 1:26.4. The veteran gelding then coasted home to stop the clock in 2:00.4 while co-favourite Gettin Lucky (Brad Watt) used strong strides to come on for second, finishing two and a quarter lengths behind. Winwood Thunder (Robert Sparling, Jr.) rounded out the top three.

Colin Densley Burrows of St. Catharines, Ont. owns the winning son of Stature-Golden Links, who scored for the third time in 27 starts this year. With the lion’s share of the purse, the 30-time career winner lifted his bankroll to $142,051.

To view Friday’s harness racing results, click here.