Cajon Thunder Closing In On 'Slots' Sweep
Cajon Thunder continued to dominate the Slots Cup Series on Sunday afternoon winning his fifth consecutive leg at Clinton Raceway by five lengths-->
The series moved to Clinton Raceway featuring two $12,000 divisions as part of the fifth leg. In the second division, Cajon Thunder left from Post 3 and carved out fractions of :28.1, :57.3 and 1:27 en route to a 1:56.1 triumph with J.R. Plante in tow. Warners Speedy Art (Jason Brewer) came on for second and Larjon Barty (Bruce Richardson finished third.
Cajon Thunder paid $3 to win as the heavy 1-2 favourite in the field. The four-year-old son of Cammibest-Tex In The City is trained by Bruce Goit for JL Benson Stables Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Aaron Waxman of Burlington, Ont., and KDM Stables Corp. of Farmingdale, New York. The victory was his sixth straight and seventh from 16 starts this year leaving him just shy of $50,000 in seasonal earnings. The win was his 10th lifetime and pushed his overall earnings to $120,279.
Lawmen Reign converted from the pocket to earn his first victory in Slots Cup Series action in the opening split for trainer-driver Ross Battin, who co-owns with Margaret Battin of Monkton, Ont. The four-year-old son of Rambaran-Tiger Reigns followed Encore Seelster (Nick Steward) through fractions of :28.4, :59 and 1:28.1 before kicking home in :28.2 for the quarter-length victory in 1:57 flat. Wildcats Terror (Jason Brewer), the longest shot on the board at odds of 22-1, finished four and a half lengths behind in third.
Lawmen Reign paid $5 to win for the second time in six seasonal starts as the 3-2 favourite. The six-time career winner, who has finished in the money in his previous series starts, watched his earnings climbed to $14,500 for 2011 and $51,918 lifetime.
The Slots Cup Series moves to Grand River Raceway on Friday, July 22 for the final preliminary leg. The $75,000 (added) final will take place on Saturday, September 3 at Hiawatha Horse Park.
Clinton’s leading trainer Paul Taylor won three of the afternoon’s 12 races with his pupils Lucky George ($5.10), Shybee ($4.50) and Ravens Raider ($18.40). Driver Travis Bowman drove all three winners along with the Ron Mitchell-trained Ambers Punch ($6.90) for a grand slam.
For results from Sunday’s harness racing card, click on the following link: Sunday Results – Clinton Raceway.