Vinny N The Iceman stepped up to the Preferred level for the first time in his career with success on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Century Mile as the five-year-old Vintage Master gelding went from last to first for trainer/driver Logan Gillis.

Half of the field in the $12,500 Preferred Handicap sprung off the gate and the pacers were four-wide into first turn with outside assignee Samba Beat (Phil Giesbrecht) pressing on to take command through a quarter in :27.1 over the sloppy track. Meanwhile, Vinny N The Iceman and Gillis trailed the field of eight and were more than a dozen lengths off the leading 3-2 favourite.

Samba Beat, the top money earner of the bunch in three previous starts, slowed down the pace through a half in :56 while the backfield sprung to life with Mercedes (J.F. Gagne) leading the back three into contention. As Mercedes confronted Samba Beat at three-quarters in 1:25, Kioti (Nathan Sobey) swung three-wide off his cover while Vinny N The Iceman loomed the major danger third-over. 

Mercedes took over command from Samba Beat mid-stretch but Vinny N The Iceman rallied by late to steal the glory, winning in 1:54 flat by 1-3/4 lengths with a :28.1 final frame. Mercedes settled for second with Kioti third and Wine Thirty (Mike Hennessy) in the mix for fourth ahead of Samba Beat.

Vinny N The Iceman paid $8.30 to win as the 3-1 second choice, coming off another late-closing victory in a high-end conditioned pace a week ago.

Vinny N The Iceman now has 11 wins to go along with 18 other top three finishes in 68 starts with earnings of $77,123 over two seasons of racing. He's earned four of those wins since being acquired by Gillis and business partner Todd Teolis in August.

To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Mile.

(Standardbred Canada)