With the first leg of the 2022 Governor's Cup Series slated to commence next week at Northside Downs, track record holder Rotten Ronnie looks like he'll be one of the top contenders.
The feature on the Saturday (Oct. 22) card of harness racing in Cape Breton was the $1,700 Winners Over Handicap Pace, with many of these veterans likely to be dropped into the entry box for the first leg of the 2022 Governor's Cup Series in one week's time. If the action in the Winners Over on Saturday was any indication of how competitive the racing will be over the course of the series, buckle up.
A field of seven was reduced to six with the scratch of Mando Fun, and the public put their faith in Rotten Ronnie. Fresh off a 1:54.4 track record performance at Inverness on Sunday, the four-year-old son of Malicious was sent off as the 4/5 choice.
Redmond Doucet settled Rotten Ronnie into fourth early as Kiss Me Im Irish (Mark Pezzarello) zinged off the wings to early command. Stablemate Gentry Seelster (Larry Snow) was forced to forge first up as Runaway Mystery (Harold Leblanc) kept that rival to the outside.
After a sharp :27.1 opening quarter, Kiss Me Im Irish maintained her position on top at the :56.2 half but the mare was under heavy pressure. Gentry Seelster was first up and Rotten Ronnie received three-wide orders in front of the grandstand for the first time.
Those three pacers continued on as a threesome around the five-eighths mark and down the backside. Rotten Ronnie then hit his afterburners to drop down to the rail with the lead to himself at the 1:26.1 third station. From there, Rotten Ronnie opened up on his rivals to win by 4-1/2 lengths with the mile timed in 1:56.1.
Gentry Seelster raced valiantly to finish second as the longest shot on the board, with Revenant (Ardon Mofford) able to rally for the show spot.
Now a 15-time winner, Rotten Ronnie (Malicious - Victory Cry) is trained by Lennan McIsaac and owned by his driver along with Andy Stewart of Inverness, N.S. The win lifted the pacer's earnings to $80,559 lifetime.
To view the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Northside, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.