After sneaking up along the pylons yesterday at Monticello Raceway, Cannae Arrow and driver Jimmy Shields tried their hardest to incinerate the tote board, as they torched the tickets of the chalk players and made the longshot players look like geniuses.
Racing at odds of 85-1, Shields and Cannae Arrow stayed within striking distance on the rail and found daylight in the stretch before notching a head win in 1:59.4. Shields also trains the four-year-old Cams Card Shark gelding.
Cannae Arrow, the longest shot in the eight-horse field, returned $174 on a win ticket. The favourite, Nothingcanshakeme, was first-up through the middle stages of the race and finished over five lengths back in seventh.
In other Monticello news, Southbound Trucker certainly deserves the accolade he will be receiving on Sunday, October 25 when he will be officially named Monticello Raceway's 2009 Horse of the Year.
The six-year-old Sharky Spur gelding just kept on truckin’ right along yesterday, as he once again defeated the best pacers on the 'Mighty M' grounds in a time of 1:56:2 for driver Greg Merton.
Merton quickly angled Southbound Trucker to the pylons after starting from Post 6. The duo sat sixth, seven lengths off the leader at the quarter pole. Merton waited until the three-eighths pole to move Southbound Trucker to the outside. The pair moved toward pacesetter Blueridge DBang, but they were still some four lengths off the leader at the half.
At the three quarters mark, Southbound Trucker was still on the outside, but he earned the lead and kicked in a :28:3 final quarter en route to his 11th victory of the year. Village Blizzard was second for driver Jimmy Taggart, Jr., while Mike forte took home the show dough with Bilmar Rustler.
Southbound Trucker has been racing year-round for the past four seasons, and last night's effort marked the pacer's 31st outing of the year. Last season he had 39 trips to post, and during the 2007 campaign Southbound Trucker put in 47 starts. The gelding raced 36 times in 2006.
One thing is for sure, though, is that Southbound Trucker did not have the confidence of the betting public which sent him away odds of 9-1. He returned a $21.60 win payoff and he even paid $13.80 for place.
(With files from Monticello)