Northern Companion rallied in the homestretch to catch and defeat the pace-setting favourite, Sheer Brilliance, in Saturday night’s $10,000 Open Pace at Vernon Downs.

With trainer Robert Hoffman at the controls in Saturday’s featured second race, Northern Companion advanced from fifth in the early going to second entering the final furlong, and then kept digging until he had completed his objective, posting a 1:52.3 win over a rain-soaked “sloppy” track by a head over the fan favourite.

It was the fifth local score, the 10th this season and the 30th all-time for the five-year-old son of Cambest-Smoke It Out, who is owned by Dorothy Zarza. The hard-earned tally lifted the bay gelding’s lifetime earnings to more than $171,000.

Hoffman also finished first with the Leopold Sawyers-owned and trained pacer GPS Legacy in Saturday’s 10th event to secure his second two-win outing at the 68-program meeting.

Canadian-horseman John MacDonald delivered three first-place finishes during Saturday’s 13-race program, while driver Claude Huckabone III, trainer Edgar Clarke and his owners Robert J. Orr and Gary J. Jonas also enjoyed two trips to the winner’s circle during the soggy evening.

(Vernon Downs)