Melissa Loyer concluded her training-title-winning campaign at Hiawatha Horse Park with a triple during the track’s closing-day 10-race program on Saturday, Sept. 26.

With leading driver Lorne House in the bike and looking to hold off Garrett Rooney for his own title, Snake Eyes Hanover ($10.30) hit the front down the backstretch and paced away to a 1:56.2 victory in the stretch for Loyer in the third race. The six-year-old mare, also owned by Loyer of Ottawa, Ont., had a 2-3/4-length margin at the wire.

A Herculean effort by Smokestack ($5.30) got Loyer her second as the seven-year-old gelding was parked the whole way but still grinded up from seventh at the quarter and pulled clear in the lane. He won the sixth race by 3-3/4 lengths in a 1:55.2 clocking with Scott Wray the lines for owners Loyer and Denis Goyette of Laval, Que.

Loyer completed her triple in the penultimate race of the meet as Captain Income ($5.20) circled wide on the last turn and marched to victory by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:55. The eight-year-old gelding, owned by Loyer, also provided House his final win of the meet.

Loyer’s three-bagger propelled her past the 20-win mark at Hiawatha in 2026, bringing her total to 21 and her margin to 11 over second-placed Pam Forgie (10 wins). House’s Saturday training double put him into a tie for third with Greg Price on nine wins. Loyer has exploded onto the scene this season, vaulting from a combined five-for-27 record in her first two years to 68 wins this term from 286 starts. She also led the Sarnia, Ont. oval in earnings with $84,368 and win rate (among trainers with more than 10 starts) with 33.9 per cent.

Entering the card with a one-win edge, House pulled away from four-time defending driving champion Rooney with four victories in the meet finale. With his two wins for Loyer, along with The Great Reset ($7.80) and Beach Cruiser ($26.30) from his own barn, he ended on top with a tally of 37 to Rooney’s 32. Robert Doyle finished third with 26. The title was House’s second of the season after the Dutton, Ont. driver led the Clinton Raceway colony. The reinsman, who passed $10 million in career earnings last month, is 125-for-779 overall this year. He also took the money crown at Hiawatha, racking up $191,474.

To view Saturday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Melissa Loyer and Lorne House with Snake Eyes Hanover)