Tuesday evening's (Jan. 3) card at The Raceway at the Western Fair District featured a $13,000 Preferred Pace and a $13,000 Preferred Handicap Trot with P L Oliver and O Narutac Perfetto shining in their respective classes.
Five-year-old pacing gelding P L Oliver has found his way into the Preferred classes in six of his last eight starts, finishing no worse than third in those classes. In Tuesday's feature pace at the London, Ont. oval, P L Oliver and driver Colin Kelly were the first to the top leaving from post position four in the field of eight. Once the pair had the front secured, they kept rolling to set the pace with panels in :27.4, :57.2 and 1:26.2. Down the stretch, Roll With The Flow, winner of last week's Preferred Pace, sprinted from last towards the top on the far outside. Kelly urged P L Oliver forward and held on to the win in 1:56.1. Roll With The Flow (Travis Henry) was second by a neck and Clever Character (Travis Cullen) finished out the top three.
P L Oliver, trained and owned by Matthew Dupuis, had his best year last year at the age of four with a record of 6-10-10 in 36 starts and $74,233 earned. The son of Sportswriter has $135,612 in career earnings and 11 lifetime wins.
In the Preferred Handicap Trot, O Narutac Perfetto got away third from post position four in the field of seven. Heavy Dude E (Ryan Desroche) was at the top when the opening panel was clocked in :29.3. Just before the half in 1:01.1, O Narutac Perfetto pulled off of the rail and sprinted to the top. At the 1:30.4 three-quarters, O Narutac Perfetto was clear for the front. Driver Scott Coulter steered him around the final turn and in the stretch to a comfortable 1-3/4 length victory in 2:00.2. Crossfit (Travis Henry) was second and Scene A Magician (Garrett Rooney) was third.
O Narutac Perfetto is a 12-year-old gelded son of Deweycheatumnhowe. Dean Nixon trains the career winner of $644,513 and 35 starts for owner Tony Basile of Toronto, Ont.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - The Raceway at the Western Fair District.