An old adage states that 'you can't keep a good man down' but it's likely also applicable to horses, or so it would seem in the case of pacer Hugh Heff.
Since his relocation to Cape Breton last August, Hugh Heff has raced 32 times in the Winners Over or stakes action at Northside Downs and Inverness Raceway (one appearance). In that stretch, the four-year-old gelding has won 25 times and his longest win drought is two races. In other words, in more than a year he's only lost back-to-back races once.
Thus, after his first off-the-board finish this past Monday (Oct. 13) at Northside, the empirical evidence leaned to a bounce-back effort in the $1,700 Winners Over Pace at Northside on Saturday, Oct. 18. And bounce he did, pulling away in the stretch to win convincingly in 1:58.3.
The winner this past Monday in the Winners Over, Dontblvmejustwatch shot out from the pylons for driver Mark Pezzarello to take command early and attempt to make every call a winning one on the front end. After a :29.1 opener, 2-5 favourite Hugh Heff got his marching orders from driver Randy Getto and started a first-over attack from fourth. Pezzarello kept the pedal to the metal with Dontblvmejustwatch, picking up the pace with a hot :57.1 half. Hugh Heff, as is his nature, kept grinding away first up and started to threaten through a 1:27 third station. Dontblvmejustwatch tried to keep his stablemate at bay, but Hugh Heff just kept on coming around the final turn and wrestled away at the head of the lane. With Getto keeping his charge up to the task, Hugh Heff pulled away from his barn buddy in the stretch to win by 2-1/4 lengths. Red Rum She Wrote (Martin Bates) and Pay Line (Roddy Gillis) finished in a dead heat for third.
Now a 47-time winner with 15 victories in 2025, Hugh Heff is trained by Dana Getto for owners Randy Getto of New Waterford, Susan MacSween of River Ryan and Wayne Hardy of Sydney, N.S. The five-year-old gelded son of Betterthancheddar - Danika Patrix now sports $120,275 in purses, returning $2.80 to win.
To view the full results for the Saturday card of harness racing in Cape Breton, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)