There were two notable dashes during the card of harness racing on Saturday, Aug. 10 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. One was seemingly never in doubt, while the other required a bit of nail-biting before it was made official.

The $36,000 Preferred Pace had a field of six reduced to a quintet with the scratch of Redwood Hanover. The public sent off this season's Preferred powerhouse Taurasi as the 1-5 choice, and he delivered with an effort akin to those pari-mutuel odds.

Driver Doug McNair pointed Taurasi to the top from post five (moving in one after the scratch) and once he made the lead there was nary an anxious moment. After tepid fractions of :28.1 and :56.2 for the front half, Taurasi added a bit more pace to trip the third timer in 1:24 before effortlessly sprinting home in :25.4 to win by nearly four lengths for the 1:49.4 score. Pocket-sitting Jabberwocky (Trevor Henry) held off the late rally of Write Me A Rose (Louis-Philippe Roy) for the place spot.

Trained by Gregg McNair for owners Brad Grant of Milton, Ont. and Alagna Racing LLC of Jackson, N.J., five-year-old Taurasi (Racing Hill - Voluminous) now sports 22 wins and a summary of 22-6-8 from 47 starts with nearly $640,000 in lifetime earnings.

While that win wasn't in doubt, the same can't be said for the fourth race on the card where in the win margin was a scant snout. Thanks to the long nose of pacing filly Sorcha Seelster and guidance of driver Bob McClure, trainer John Pentland celebrated a milestone on the Saturday night program as the victory lifted Pentland's purse earnings over the $10 million plateau.

A resident of Dorchester, Ont., Pentland sports multiple O'Brien Awards over his training career and 436 victories along with his $10 million in stable earnings. 

For the results from Saturday's card of harness racing in Campbellville, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Standardbred Canada)