Truro Raceway hosted the Maritime Breeders Finals for two-year-olds on Sunday afternoon and a trio of the season's stakes stars headed home with more hardware for their collections.
Atlantic Breeders Crown champion Woodmere Dancenart fought off all challengers to win the $30,300 Maritime Breeders Final for two-year-old filly pacers by half a length in 1:59.4 for her Nova Scotia connections. Clare MacDonald trains and drives the winner for owners Morah Kerr of Greenfield and Phonsie MacEachern of Port Hood. Dusty Lane Bria finished second with Jann Down back in third.
The Articulator-Shadow Dancer filly, a $6,000 Atlantic Classic yearling bred by Wallace Wood, has now won seven times in 13 starts while banking over $51,000.
Another Atlantic Breeders Crown champion, Dixieland Band, was also in the spotlight in the Maritime Breeders Stakes and he went wire-to-wire in the $30,300 two-year-old colt pace. Driven by Gilles Barrieau, he prevailed in 1:59.1 by three lengths over Bngs Express and Camco Titan.
Kevin MacLean trains the Ameripan Gigolo-Divine Justice gelding for owners Reginald MacPherson and David Mackenzie of Stratford, P.E.I. and Aaron Mackenzie of Winsloe, P.E.I. Bred by Bill Andrew, Dixieland Band was purchased from the Atlantic Classic Sale for $8,100 and now boasts over $45,000 in lifetime earnings with a seven-for-10 record.
Scratched sick from the Atlantic Breeders Crown, top two-year-old trotting filly Paymenowpaymelater returned to action to claim the Maritime Breeders title with Kenny Arsenault aboard for trainer Earl Watts. She rallied home off cover to win the $8,600 freshman trotting final by more than three lengths over Windemere Ty and Suicide Shift. Her 2:04.4 career-best clocking was also a new divisional track record, shaving three-fifths of a second off Rustico Silverstar's mark.
Bred by Eldred Nicholson and Peter Buchanan, the Northern Bailey-Credibility filly was purchased for $6,700 at the Atlantic Classic Sale as a yearling by Wade Peconi of Stanchel, P.E.I. She has won nine of her 11 career starts and nearly $30,000 in earnings.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Truro Raceway.