Stepping up to the Open ranks for the second week in a row, Swan Fine Lady turned a perfect trip into a victory for her connections in the Sunday (July 30) co-featured $20,000 event at MGM Northfield Park.

Following a win against upper-level conditioned company two weeks ago, the daughter of Swan For All struggled to put it all together last week after a tough trip. Things worked out better for her this week as she outlasted rivals and secured the lead through the first turn.  

The lead was short-lived, however, as Winning Shadow (Chris Lems) stormed by to take the lead before the quarter in :27.3. Lems worked out a :29.4 second-quarter breather, with Eye Ofa Tiger As (Billy Davis Jr.) beginning to breathe down his neck with three-eighths of a mile to trot.

There wasn’t much movement into the backstretch for the final time as Eye Ofa Tiger As continued to inch closer to Winning Shadow, with Swan Fine Lady (Kurt Sugg) a ground-saving third past three-quarters in 1:25.  

Turning for home, Winning Shadow tried to give them the slip, but all six in the field would hit the wire together, with Swan Fine Lady prevailing up the passing lane to win in 1:54. Rose Run Xtra (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) rallied from out of the clouds to be second, with Winning Shadow holding on for third.

Owned by Brookside Stables and trained by Edward Zubkoff Jr., Swan Fine Lady pushed her career earnings to $236,272, scoring her 36th career victory. She returned $31 for the 14-1 upset.

While there wasn’t much of an upset in the $20,000 Open Pace, Markham Eyre N, who has been knocking on the door in each of his starts, finally put it all together to score in the co-featured race.

With The Ideal Dancer A (Aaron Merriman) and Te Amo Blue Chip (Hunter Myers) both leaving inside of him, Luke Ebersole elected to sit just off the pace with Markham Eyre N, coming away in sixth into the backstretch for the first time.

Heavy favourite The Ideal Dancer A put up stern fractions of :26.4 and :54.2 and looked to be stepping away from the field into the clubhouse turn for the final time. Ebersole decided not to wait any longer, tipping the New Zealand-bred to the outside to take a crack at the leader.  

By the time the field got to three-quarters in 1:21.2, Markham Eyre N was within a half-length of the lead and surging into the final turn. The pair matched strides through much of the last eighth of a mile, but Markham Eyre N kicked clear to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:49.4. The Ideal Dancer A was second with Camouflage Money (Chris Lems) rallying late to be third.

Owned by Murdock Racing Stable LLC and trained by Bethie Murdock, the eight-year-old son of Sportswriter now sports 13 career victories with $111,026 in the bank. He paid $7 to win as the 5-2 second choice.

Live harness racing resumes at Northfield Park on Monday at 6 p.m.

(With files from Northfield Park)