Royalty For Life continued his dream season for trainer George Ducharme with a stakes record equalling performance in the $686,000 Canadian Trotting Classic for three-year-olds on Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack.

Driven by Brian Sears, Royalty For Life front-stepped his way to a 1:52.2 triumph in the featured stakes event of the night. He equalled the stakes record co-held by Market Share (2012), Lucky Chucky (2010) and Majestic Son (2006).

When the wings of the gate folded, Corky (David Miller) fired to command from post eight with Wheeling N Dealing (Sylvain Filion), Toocool Forschool (Jody Jamieson), Royalty For Life and Smilin Eli (Tim Tetrick) battling wide into the first turn. Royalty For Life pressed on with Toocool Forschool breaking stride and cleared to command past the :27.1 first quarter mark.

Royalty For Life continued to lead the way to the half in :56.1 and began to open up on the field of 10 en route to the third quarter station in 1:23.4.

The talented trotter extended his leading margin to five lengths as he entered the stretch and cruised home in :28.3 for the victory. Your So Vain (Randy Waples) closed with a fury from the backfield to narrow the winner's margin to two lengths while early trailer All Laid Out (Yannick Gingras) came on for third. Wheeling N Dealin and Smilin Eli were fourth and fifth.

A runner-up in his elimination last weekend to Your So Vain while battling a touch of sickness, Royalty For Life was sent postward as the even-money favourite in the final and paid $4.30 to win.

"I think the track was a little deeper last week and he maybe wasn't 100 per cent -- George said he had kind of a rough week last week -- but he overcame it and he was really on his game tonight," said Sears, who anticipated the early leavers in the race.

"He's a beautiful horse and he just covers the ground so well. He lets you know when he's good and you just call on him and he's there for you."

Royalty For Life joins the elite company of top trotters such as Market Share (2012), Muscle Hill (2009), Deweycheatunmhowe (2008), Donato Hanover (2007), Windsongs Legacy (2004) and Yankee Paco (2000) who have won both the Hambletonian and Canadian Trotting Classic. He is now six-for-11 this year, with other major wins in the Zweig and Stanley Dancer Memorials. With his win in the Canadian Trotting Classic, his sophomore earnings soared past the $1 million mark.

"He just wants to be a good horse, he wants to win all the time," said Ducharme of the homebred Rc Royalty-Bourbon N Grits colt's winning attitude. "He's very playful and feels good all the time. It's that desire that a lot of them are just born with that we look for."

Royalty For Life is owned by breeder Alfred Ross of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Raymond Campbell of Belchertown, Massachusetts, and Paul Fontaine of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

"This is something you dream about when you're a kid getting into the sport," added Ducharme. "It's a dream come true right now for me."

Riveting Rosie Romps In Peaceful Way

Two-year-old trotting filly Riveting Rosie and driver Paul MacDonell cruised wire-to-wire to win the $374,000 Peaceful Way Stakes for her local connections during Saturday night's action-packed card of harness racing at Mohawk.

Moving in one spot to post four with elimination winner Danica Hall a late vet scratch, Riveting Rosie established the lead off the gate and was rated through fractions of :28.3, :58.2 and 1:27.3 en route to a two length victory in 1:56.1. Gammas Girl (Randy Waples), another elimination winner, followed from the pocket to place while Game On Hanover (Sylvain Filion) finished third.

Riveting Rosie was the 6-5 favourite in the final after recovering from a break in stride in her elimination last week to finish third. She returned $4.60 to her backers.

"She got a little bit jammed up last week and Paul was able to get her out where she was out of trouble tonight," commented trainer John Bax in the winner's circle. "She's a game filly so I was pretty happy to see where she was [tonight].

"It doesn't matter what [the fractions] are as long as you get to the winner's circle first, but it definitely helped her. Paul did a great job of controlling the race."

The Muscle Mass-Rose De Vie Stena filly was purchased for $17,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale as a yearling and has put together a racing record of 5-1-1 in seven starts for Parkhill Stud Farm of Peterborough, Don Allensen of Wyoming, J And T Stable of Newmarket and John Hayes of Sharon. Tonight's stakes win more than doubled her bankroll, which now stands at $368,613. Other wins on her resume include multiple Ontario Sires Stakes and a division of the Champlain Stakes.

"She always had that attitude; she wanted to go ahead. She was close to being aggressive," said Bax, explaining Riveting Rosie's manners while training down in Florida over the winter.

"I wouldn't say that I thought she was going to be like this, but I'm alright with it," he smiled, noting that the talented filly's racing season will end this month in anticipation of an enticing sophomore campaign.

Father Patrick Lowers Record In Wellwood

Father Patrick romped to a record-setting victory in the $365,000 William Wellwood Memorial Trot for two-year-olds during the Canadian Trotting Classic undercard on Saturday at Mohawk.

Winning the first stakes event of the night in 1:53.4 by open lengths, Father Patrick shaved one-fifth of a second off his own divisional track and Canadian record, set in the Simcoe Stakes on Aug. 30 prior to the Wellwood eliminations. His winning time, which matched his lifetime mark taken at New Jersey's Meadowlands Racetrack, just missed Muscle Hill's world record.

"He had plenty left in the tank," said winning driver Yannick Gingras in a post-race interview. "It's scary to say that; he was a fifth of a second off the world record, it's a cool night. He could have definitely crushed it."

Odds On Amethyst (Dan Daley) fired off the gate from post seven to establish the lead over elimination winners Harper Blue Chip (Sylvain Filion) and Father Patrick during a :27.1 opening quarter. As he strolled to the half in :57.2, Father Patrick and Gingras swept to command. The heavy 1-9 favourite then cruised past three-quarters in 1:26.1 and drew off down the lane with Harper Blue Chip chasing him home six lengths in arrears. Credit Fashion (Brian Sears) rounded out the top three finishers.

Father Patrick, who overcame an outside post 10 start in his elimination last weekend and survived a judges' inquiry after getting rough-gaited in the stretch, paid $2.30 to win the final.

"He has little quirks. He's a little funny to drive," noted Gingras. "Tonight I just wanted to give him a clear path. I moved him to the front at the half and it was lights out from there."

Jimmy Takter trains the Cantab Hall-Gala Dream colt for the Father Patrick Stable of East Windsor, New Jersey. The standout freshman trotter, who was a $105,000 Lexington Selected Sale yearling, now boasts seven stakes wins in eight career starts with earnings soaring to $444,845.

To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.