Pacific Oak and Indiana Hall both caught a pair of popular pacesetters in the stretch to capture their respective $14,800 Preferred events on a snowy Monday afternoon at Western Fair Raceway
.
After leaving from the trailing eight-post, Preferred pacer Pacific Oak [$9.50] and driver Paul MacKenzie sat third for most the mile while favourite Eagle Luck (Doug McNair) carved out fractions of :29.2, 1:00 and 1:29.2. The eight-year-old son of Pacific Rocket-Yankee Delray, trained by Ken Oliver, angled out three-wide at the top of the stretch and sprinted home to score in 1:59.1 by two and a quarter lengths. Eagle Luck was second while Rave On (Scott Zeron) closed from the backfield to show.
The victory was Pacific Oak’s second in a row from three starts this year for owners Shirley and Kerry House of St. Jacobs, Ont. The brown gelding now boasts 36 wins on his career record and $332,347 in earnings.
Indiana Hall [$7.60] and driver Robert Shepherd followed favourite Flora Dream (Doug McNair) through fractions of :28.2,:59 and 1:30 from the pocket spot in the Preferred Handicap Trot before changing up to take over in the stretch. The eight-year-old son of Striking Sahbra-Inverlochy prevailed by a length and a quarter in 2:01.4 with Flora Dream settling for second and first over challenger Stand Guard (Robert Sparling Jr.) coming in third.
Indiana Hall, a runner-up in his two previous outings, notched his first win from three starts in 2011. The brown gelding, trained by Ian Downey and owned by S S G Stables of North Boston, New York, surpassed the $600,000 mark in lifetime earnings with his 31st career win.
To view Monday’s results, click here.