Meet's Leaders Feted; Gillis Triples

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Monday's card of racing was the final one of the 2014 Mohawk Racetrack summer meet, and hardware was handed out for the meet’s leading driver and trainer.

Chris Christoforou picked up two victories Monday night to finish off the Mohawk summer meet as the leading driver with 117 victories.

A resident of Campbellville, Christoforou finished 22 wins ahead of his nearest rivals Randy Waples and James MacDonald.

Christoforou, who is approaching 6,000 career wins and $100 million in career earnings, finished the meet as the top earning driver with over $3 million banked during the five-month meet.

On the training side, Tony Alagna captured his first Mohawk training title with 41 victories from just 144 starts. Alagna finished seven wins ahead of Carmen Auciello and Corey Johnson.

A native of Urbana, Illinois, Alagna’s tremendous meet was highlighted by Artspeak’s victory in the $667,000 Metro Pace on August 30.

One of the top trainers in the sport, Alagna’s stable has earned more than $3.5 million this season, with over $1.5 million of that earned during the Mohawk summer meet.

Also on Monday night, trainer Jeff Gillis watched his starters kick things into overdrive after a slow start to the month of October.

Gillis watched his stable go 0-for-9 in October, but a training triple put an end to the cold streak for the accomplished conditioner.

Pan Street USA got the ball rolling for the barn thanks to his maiden-breaking win in Race 4. Rick Zeron guided the homebred to a 1:53.2 victory for owner/breeder Peter Pan Stables Inc of Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Stablemate Cougar Hall came up with a big performance just four races later for driver Steve Condren. The grey son of Somebeachsomewhere took advantage of some class relief en route to his dominant performance against conditioned foes. He halted the teletimer in 1:51.3.

Gillis completed the hat trick thanks to an impressive-looking victory with Arque Hanover in Race 9. The two-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven blew away the foes he faced in a career-best clocking of 1:52.2. The youngster was driven to victory by Steve Condren.

Gillis, who was voted Canada’s Trainer of the Year in 2011, has sent out 1,057 winners to date while racking up more than $23 million in purse earnings.

To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Mohawk Racetrack.

(With files from WEG)

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