This past Monday (Oct. 12) in the Winners Over Pace at Northside Downs, Thunder Alley kept Aragonite parked out and maintained his position on top to deliver a 1:57.3 victory. On Saturday (Oct. 17), Aragonite got his revenge.
With rail position in the $1,600 top class feature, driver Carey Romeo asked Aragonite to push forward and make the top ahead of Thunder Alley (driven by Kevin Bailey). Bailey took the tuck into the pocket down the backside as Aragonite rambled through fractions of :27.4 and :57.4, but moved back out to challenge before the 1:27.4 third station. Aragonite clearly held onto that grudge from earlier this week and kept his rival at bay for the final 400 metres, coming home in :29.3 for the 1:57.2 decision. Ranked Contender (Ardon Mofford) closed well to grab the place position, back 1-1/2 lengths, with Pay Line (Roddy Gillis) in for third ahead of Thunder Alley.
A six-year-old gelded son of Sportswriter-Fade Away, Aragonite is owned by trainer Colin Rankin along with Nova Scotia-based Sherry Gillis of Sydney, Cathy Rankin of Dutch Brook and Debra Rankin of Sydney. Now a 12-time winner in his career with $75,392 in earnings, Aragonite returned $7.60 to win and looks to factor in the local edition of the Governor's Cup Series set to commence next week.
To view the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing in Cape Breton, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)