For the second week-in-a-row the $12,100 Preferred Pace at Rideau Carleton Raceway had Priceless Edition's name written all over it
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The five-year-old son of Real Desire-Precious Delight, who was a 1:52.1 winner in last Sunday’s edition of the class, grabbed a second helping of the winner’s circle in this evening’s tilt in a time of 1:54.2 for trainer Mark Steacy.
Gord Brown got away fifth with Priceless Edition while Best Show In Town established the lead and laid down an opening quarter in :27.1. He held the lead through middle splits of :57.2 and 1:25 while Priceless Edition followed cover behind the first-over prompter, Always Western.
Best Show In Town eventually succumbed to the pressure, and that left the door wide-open for Priceless Edition to blast by in the late stages of the mile. The gelding kicked home in :28.4 to win by a little more than a length over Pieraz. Best Show In Town hung around to grab the show dough.
Peter Heffering of Port Perry, ON bred and owns Priceless Edition, who is now 3-for-10 this season. The 24-time winner has banked more than $47,000 this season and $370,149 to date.
Driver John MacDonald and trainer Sebastien Giroux also proved to be a lethal combination on the Sunday evening program at Rideau Carleton Raceway. The trainer/driver joined forces to win three races, and MacDonald tacked on another two catch-driving scores to bring his nightly win total to five.
Match Bayama (1:55), Improper Hall (1:59.4) and Quintal Bayama (1:57.2) all found their way to victory lane for MacDonald and Giroux. MacDonald also scored with the Lesley Newland-trained Borntobearockstar (1:59.4) and the Gary MacDonald-trained Empty Sky (1:59.2).
MacDonald has racked up 318 wins this season – a personal best in a single season. His previous best for a single season was the 304 wins he collected last year. He’s well on his way to setting a personal record for earnings, as well. He went over $1.5 million for the season with his successful Sunday night at the office, and that leave him less than $70,000 away from surpassing last year’s single season record of $1,575,505.
Giroux is also on the verge of setting personal record for single season success. He sits with 102 wins this year – just five wins shy of equaling the 107-win season he enjoyed in 2003. His stable has banked $504,988 so far this year, and that’s less than $30,000 away form surpassing the $534,606 his starters racked up last year.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click here.