Driver Robert Shepherd completed a five-win performance with a victory behind Mythic Gambler in the $10,000 Preferred Handicap Pace at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday, June 22.

Shepherd declined a hole and hustled the gelding forward into the first turn, getting his charge around Lakers Bank (Darcy Clancy) to lead to the quarter in :26.4. Mythic Gambler was left alone to the midway point in :56.4 but saw The Light Speed (Guy Gagnon) advancing first-over in the rearview mirror as they straightened onto the backstretch.

Those two threw down to three-quarters in 1:24 with Mythic Gambler reaching that station in front by a head, and he began to pull clear of The Light Speed on the final turn. With that foe dispatched and pocket-sitter Lakers Bank coming up empty, Mythic Gambler cruised home to win going away by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:51. Lakers Bank was second over The Light Speed, who finished well to hold third.

Mythic Gambler, the co-track record holder for an aged pacing gelding, is four-for-six this season with three wins in the Rideau Preferred ranks for trainer Catherine Girard. The seven-year-old Bettors Delight-Mythical gelding, owned by Kozen Farms of La Prairie, Que., is a 16-time winner with $76,592 in career earnings from 25 starts.

Shepherd got on the board in the second race, going from last-to-first in a six-horse contest with Tuf Cooper ($6.90), and he won Race 4 with Ibetyouakiss ($3), who produced a tough first-over effort. The driver then rattled off three straight wins in races six through eight, concluding with the feature. He took the sixth narrowly in gate-to-wire fashion with Beef N Cheddar ($7.50), scored with a dominant Midnight Mood ($2.30) in the seventh, and piloted Mythic Gambler to victory in the eighth. Shepherd is clicking at a 21.6 per cent rate this year with 44 wins in 204 starts. He is second in the Rideau drivers’ standings behind Guy Gagnon.

To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway.

(Standardbred Canada)