Open trotters and pacers put on a speed show Friday night at Woodbine Racetrack and managed to threaten some of the fastest times on Canadian soil this season

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The trotters were up first and it was 8-5 favourite Define The World who earned the lion’s share of the $50,000 purse in front-stepping fashion. Last week’s Open Trot winner lowered his lifetime mark to 1:52 tonight, coming within one-fifth of a second of Lucky Jim’s national season’s mark set on July 18 at Mohawk Racetrack.

Driver Paul MacDonell fired the four-year-old gelding off the gate from Post 4 with Enny Youngman (Mario Baillargeon) leaving alongside from Post 6. Define The World sprinted to the first quarter in a flashy :26.2 forcing his rival to drop in the pocket, and then took a second quarter breather.

After passing the half in :56, Slave Dream (Sylvain Filion) moved to the outside from fourth providing Mapleleaf Buddy (Jack Moiysev) with cover but Define The World never waivered on top as he rolled to three-quarters in 1:24.2 and then kicked away by four lengths in the stretch for the victory. Slave Dream and Mapleleaf Buddy finished second and third.

The win was Define The World’s sixth of the season in 22 starts and lifted his earnings to $228,260 for trainer John Bax and owner/breeder Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont. The son of Duke Of York-Venice Holiday now sports 20 wins on his 50-race record and is closing in on the million-dollar mark with $982,481 banked to date.

Switching over to the pace, Hyperion Hanover also earned himself a new lifetime mark of 1:49.1 after wearing down the slight favourite, Ramegade Bruiser, in the stretch.

Jody Jamieson sent new millionaire Ramegade Bruiser to the front of the field from Post 5 in a sharp :25.4 opener while Rick Zeron tucked Hyperion Hanover into third. Ramegade Bruiser carved out middle stations of :54.2 and 1:22.1 without facing any serious challengers but as he turned for home, Hyperion Hanover unleashed a :26.2 final frame to capture this week's $50,000 Open Pace by a length. Keystone Horatio (Randy Waples) closed well for third.

Hyperion Hanover, a son of Camluck-Hattie, has won six of his 26 races this year and earned $250,050 for trainer Rob Fellows and the S S G Stables of North Boston, New York. The 27-time career winner now boasts a bankroll of $833,843.

Just two races later, Hyperion Hanover's half-brother, Haverford Hanover, and Zeron clicked in 1:51.1. The five-year-old son of The Panderosa was a wire-to-wire winner for trainer Nikolas Drennan and owners Joseph and Laurie Davino of Clarksburg, New Jersey.

In the $44,000 Fillies & Mares Pace, Arts Diva just missed the national season’s mark for aged mares by one-fifth of a second with her 1:49.3 career-best effort.

With MacDonell aboard, the four-year-old daughter of Art Major-Caliterra left from Post 6 and carved out impressive panels of :26.3, :54.2 and 1:21.3 and then held off the favoured Dreamfair Eternal (Randy Waples), who set the Canadian season’s record on July 25 at Mohawk. The runner-up finished a length behind with the pocket-sitting Miss Scarlett (Rick Zeron) finishing two and a half lengths back in third.

Ken Sucee trains the winner of six races in 31 seasonal starts and $194,672 for owners Brian Legge of North York and Dr. David Legge of Ajax, Ont. Arts Diva, a winner of 11 races lifetime, has amassed $491,375.

Both MacDonell and Zeron scored a hat trick on the 12-race card, as did Jody Jamieson.

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