Dresden Raceway launched its 2025 meet on Sunday, May 25, celebrating 150 years of harness racing in Dresden, Ont., with a track record performance highlighting the Opening Day action.

Taylors Credit lowered the track record for older pacers in the afternoon's featured $5,000 seventh race, a conditioned optional $15,000 claiming pace, for trainer/driver Natasha Day and co-owner Doug Millard of Woodstock, Ont. 

The eight-year-old gelding gained separation from the trailing quartet down the backstretch during the final lap while leading gate-to-wire in 1:54.1. The winning time was two-fifths of a second faster that the former record set by Daylon Blizzard in June 2007. 

The fractions were clocked in :29, :58.4 and 1:26.3, with a :27.3 final kicker putting Taylors Credit nine lengths ahead of the field at the wire. Come On Artie (Robert Doyle) won the race for place over All The Cheddar (Garrett Rooney).

After competing at the Preferred level at Western Fair Raceway this spring, Taylors Credit paid $2.90 to win as the 2-5 bettors' choice. He earned his second victory from 14 starts this year for his current connections. 

The Up The Credit-Mae I Be Lucky gelding, who started his career racing at Dresden, now has 17 lifetime wins and earnings totalling $132,163.

Day doubled up on the nine-race Opening Day card, also scoring a 13-1 upset in the $4,600 conditioned fourth race with Millard's four-year-old pacing mare Wine Delight ($28.60) after rallying from behind the first-over favourite and eventual third-place finisher, Redneck Renegade (Garrett Rooney), and prevailing over pacesetter Its Tricky (Nick Steward) by half a length in 2:01.2.

The first winner of the 2025 meet was the Jeff Graham-trained three-year-old pacing filly Shesafreighttrain ($10.10), who led at every call in a 2:02.1 career debut with Nick Steward in the sulky.

Live harness racing will continue at Dresden Raceway on Sundays through July followed by the meet finale on the Civic Holiday, Monday, Aug. 4. Post time each race day is 1 p.m.

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

(Standardbred Canada)