Dreamfair Eternal continued to dominate the aged pacing mare division with a victory in the second edition of the $167,000 Forest City Pace at Western Fair
Raceway on Saturday night.
With driver Chris Christoforou subbing in for regular reinsman Randy Waples, Breeders Crown champion Dreamfair Eternal made her move at the opening quarter and cruised to victory in 1:54.3 for trainer Pat Fletcher and owner-breeder John Lamers of Ingersoll, Ont.
A Ps Money Maker (Rick Zeron), Sammy Syd (Mike Whelan) and Call Me Yours (Dave Wall) left from the three inside post positions with Voelz Hanover (Mario Baillargeon) firing from the outside seven spot. The early leavers raced four-deep into the first turn with Voelz Hanover making a break.
The inside three settled in line and raced to the first quarter in :28.1 before trailing starter Dreamfair Eternal rushed up from fourth to take over. The six-year-old daughter of Camluck-J Cs Nathalie hit the half in :58 and headed to three-quarters in 1:26.2 while pocket-sitter A Ps Money Maker backed through the field and pulled up.
Dreamfair Eternal kept her rivals at bay as she cruised down the stretch to score in 1:54.3 by one length with Arts Diva (Paul MacDonell) coming on for second and Lady Latte (Doug McNair) finishing six lengths back in third.
A Ps Money Maker did not finish the race. Trainer Travis Umphrey told Trot Insider that he attributed the poor performance to an atrial fibrillation.
“I didn’t like the way Rick’s mare paced the first turn – she didn’t look good to me – and I thought if I took a bit of a run at him I thought Rick was sensible enough to let her go. So I was pretty confident I’d clear and if not I was pretty confident I would run them down either way," said Christoforou in the winner's circle. "She’s just that kind of a mare, she’s just push button. She’s like a Ferrari.
“I got a couple of calls real quick just before I was going to leave the house and I was pretty happy,” said Christoforou on picking up the drive for Waples, who was feeling under the weather. “His misfortune was my good fortune. I was lucky to get the drive on her. I’m very happy to drive her and I’ve got to thank everyone involved; John, Pat and Randy too – he gave me a few pointers on her because she’s not the easiest to drive on a half-mile track but she just showed what kind of a world champion she is tonight."
Dreamfair Eternal picked up her 14th win in 20 starts this year and pushed her seasonal earnings over the $900,000 mark. Lifetime, she has won 43 times in 98 starts while banking over $1.6 million.
“I have to take a little line out of Tina Turner’s song: ‘she’s simply the best’,” added Lamers, who indicated that Dreamfair Eternal will make a few more starts at Woodbine Racetrack in the Open this year.
“It would be nice to have a Canadian bred horse go over the million-dollar mark in a single season. Not very many have done that in Ontario or in Canada for that matter so it would be nice to see her do that. She’ll tell me when she’s had enough and we’ll definitely bring her back next year. I think she’ll be ultra good. We didn’t race her much as a two and three-year-old so we saved her for the last of her career.”
Dreamfair Eternal paid $3.90 to win as the 4-5 favourite.
For a recap of tonight's undercard featuring an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold elimination for three-year-old pacing colts and the second leg of the Middlesex County Trotting Series for fillies and mares, click here.
To view Saturday's results, click here.