A pair of preliminary legs of each the Willowdale Pacing Series and Glorys Comet Trotting Series will be featured on Woodbine Racetrack's Saturday, January 10 live card of racing
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Fourteen horses have been split into a pair of $40,000 opening leg divisions of the Willowdale for four-year-old pacers, while 15 horses will contest a pair of $50,000 second leg divisions of the Glorys Comet for trotters four years old and upward.
Standout Rustler Hanover bay Keystone Horatio has drawn Post 6 in the Willowdale's first division, carded as Race 6. Driver Randy Waples qualified the millionaire on Monday January 5 for trainer John Kopas. Keystone Horatio will be making his first pari-mutuel start since competing in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals November 15, 2008.
Fresh off an '08 season in which Lucky Man earned over $250,000 in purses, the Camluck gelding will compete in the second Willowdale division for trainer Casie Coleman. The bay will start from the rail and Coleman has listed Randy Waples, who has been listed on two other horses, to drive. On January 3 at Woodbine, during a conditioned non-winners of four races event, Lucky Man posted a one-length victory in 1:52.4 with Waples at the helm.
The first Glorys Comet split will kick off the card at 7:30 p.m. and will feature opening leg victor Scorpion Moon (PP5, Joshua Marks). The Tracy Brainard-trained Armbro Scorpion gelding came from off the tempo last week to tally a half-length win in 1:54. In order to record back-to-back wins on Saturday, the bay will have to fend off six others, including Mystical Ryan (PP2, Mario Baillargeon), San Pail (PP3, Randy Waples) and $1.9 million earner Abbey Road C (PP7, Keith Jones).
A pair of 2008 O'Brien Award nominees will lock horns in the second Glory Comet split (Race 4, 8:33 p.m.), which will hold a field of eight. Four-year-old Define The World (PP3, Paul MacDonell), the Duke Of York gelding that is up for an O'Brien in the three-year-old trotting colt category, will face off with seven-year-old Armbro Chronicle (PP5, Mike Saftic), the Self Possessed gelding up for aged trotting horse of the year. The division will also feature opening leg winner Chick N Tell (PP1, Mike Saftic), Please Poppy (PP2, Mark Macdonald) and Enny Youngman (PP8, Mario Baillargeon) among others.
Also, a 10-horse Preferred Pace featuring Tigerama will go to post for Race 8 (9:57 p.m.)
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I'll be curious to see how
I'll be curious to see how the invader from Michigan, The Admiral, performs. He had a good year in '08 as a 3YO Competing in the MSS program. Plus, he is the little brother of Admiral's Express!
I hope he does well!