Drivers John MacDonald and Denis St. Pierre appeared to be in a heated battle for star of the card honours Sunday night at Rideau Carleton Raceway, but after 15 harness races the pair tied with their win count at five apiece

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St. Pierre kicked off his five-win night with a victory in the second race aboard D Gs Apologize ($9.20) for trainer Guylain Fortin. He then won the fifth race with Some Hearts ($7.30) and the seventh race with D Gs Woodstock ($20.10), both for Chance Stewart. St. Pierre went back-to-back in races 13 and 14 to conclude his five-bagger with Avid Artist ($8.40) for Colin Johnson and La Ponpadour ($9) for Marc Lacoursiere.

MacDonald didn’t get started until the sixth race with Kan Wire ($9.70) for Brenda Spence, but once he got rolling he was unstoppable in the final races. MacDonald won the 10th race with Whistling Hanover ($7) for Gary McDonald, the 11th with his own pupil Countyline Cam ($11.30), the 12th with Debster ($4.50) for Michael Armstrong, and the finale with another one of his own trainees, Kiss Quietly ($4.20).

While the track's top four leaderboard remained the same after Sunday's card, both MacDonald and St. Pierre made solid gains. MacDonald narrowed Guy Gagnon's lead in the standings to four (192-188) while St. Pierre closed in on the third leading driver Stephane Gendron and now trails him by just nine wins (169-160).

For results from Sunday’s harness racing card, click on the following link: Sunday Results – Rideau Carleton Raceway.