R Royal Port led all the way to win the $10,000 Rideau Carleton Raceway Preferred Handicap Trot in his first visit to the track since 2022 on Wednesday, July 2.

He fired out from post five for Robert Shepherd and muscled his way to the engine as the field of six headed into the first turn. R Royal Port, after putting up a :26.4 first panel, cruised to the half in :56.3 and went unchallenged to three-quarters in 1:25. Shepherd asked for speed on the final turn, and the gelding opened up a 2-1/2-length advantage at the top of the stretch before sailing home to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.4. Emma Town Bud (Pierre Bovay) closed late to nose out Rose Run Why Not (Pascal Berube) for place. The winner paid $3.40.

R Royal Port has won four races in 10 tries this season with visits to four different Ontario tracks for trainer Gerard Demers. The six-year-old son of Archangel-World Class Izzy is 19-for-80 lifetime with $198,755 in earnings. His only prior visit to Rideau came in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold start in 2022. He is owned by La Ferme Tag Inc. of Papineauville, Que.

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

(Standardbred Canada)