Arizona Sets Record In Leamington Debut

Arizona winning at Leamington Raceway

Arizona made her Leamington Raceway debut one for the record books on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 10).

Trained by Mike Timpano, Arizona knocked one-fifth of a second off the track record for older pacing mares, winning the afternoon's third race in 1:56.1 in rein to Nick Steward.

Blasting off the gate from the far outside in a $4,400 fillies and mares conditioned/optional claiming pace, Arizona worked her way three-wide past rivals through a :27 opening quarter to take the lead from inside leaver Kinda Like Royalty. She then cruised through middle panels of :58 and 1:27.1 with a two-length advantage and extended that margin to 4-1/4 lengths in the stretch. Kinda Like Royalty chased in second while Faithfuls Nola went first-over to round out the top three.

The former divisional track record was held by Sports Icon, a 1:56.2 winner in September 2021.

Arizona in the winner's circle at Leamington Raceway

Arizona, who won seven races in a row in the spring and has competed at five other Ontario racetracks this year, was the 1-5 favourite and paid $2.70 to win. The four-year-old Up The Credit-Jo And Marie mare collected her 12th victory of the season -- only two other pacing mares have more wins this season in North America -- and sent her lifetime earnings over the $100,000 mark for owners Wendy Warren Timpano of Campbellville, Ont. and Herman Bardoel of Ingersoll, Ont.

To view Sunday's complete harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.

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