The second leg of the Blizzard Pacing Series was contested on Thursday evening at Woodbine Racetrack, and Chris Christoforou swept both of the $20,000 divisions.
Keystone Wendy front-stepped her way to a 30-1 upset in the opening division for Christoforou and trainer Mike Pennington. The four-year-old Western Hanover miss overcame Post 10 to produce the 1:55.2 decision.
Christoforou hammered out panels of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:26.3 before asking the mare to summon up :28.4 closing speed to seal the deal. Designated Leader was second best and her stablemate, Katpandu, rounded out the top three.
It was the third lifetime victory for Keystone Wendy, who is owned by PBR Systems Group and Linda Bedard.
Onehotvett employed front-end tactics to take the second division in a time of 1:55.1 for Christoforou and trainer Randy Fife. It was just the second lifetime win for the four-year-old Goliath Bayama miss, and it went down as a career-best clocking.
On top through panels of :27.1, :56.1 and 1:25.2, Onehotvett used a :29.4 final frame to hold on for the nose decision over Astreos Delight. Race favourite Artists Dynasty, who enjoyed a second over trip, came up flat and had to settle for third prize.
Gerry Sparling, Matthew Sparling and Rick Fife share ownership on Onehotvett, who now boasts $72,558 in lifetime earnings.
The top ten money earners from the preliminary legs of the series will have the chance to line up on the starting gate for the $47,400 final of the Blizzard Pacing Series, which is slated to go next Thursday evening at Woodbine Racetrack.
To view Thursday’s results, click here.
Great job Chris!! I know
Great job Chris!! I know you are not a full timer anymore but I always liked how you created your own luck.