Millenium Seelster held off Livin Large to win the $6,500 Preferred 4 Handicap Pace featured during Leamington Raceway's 2021 season finale on Sunday, Oct. 31.
The race was named the St Lads Farms Legacy Pace in honour of Bob Ladouceur's St Lads Farm, which will be closing after 41 years of operations.
Scott Wray worked out the winning trip aboard Millenium Seelster for trainer/owner Emma Christoforou of Moffat, Ont.
It was an eventful five-horse feature with insider Dandy Idea (Tyler Borth) leaving from the pylons along with outsiders Livin Large (Garrett Rooney) and Millenium Seelster. With the inside advantage, Dandy Idea took control around the first turn ahead of Livin Large but 8-5 favourite Millenium Seelster marched on to clear past the :27.4 opening quarter mark.
Positions remained unchanged through a :57 half but Livin Large launched down the backside approaching three-quarters in 1:27 to take over second-place. He then popped the pocket down stretch to make it a close call at the finish, but Millenium Seelster held to win by a head in 1:56.3.
The five-year-old gelded son of Sunshine Beach, who was a runner-up in last week's Lakeshore Cup, returned $5.40 to win. Leafs And Wings (Jonathan Hahn) finished seven lengths behind the top pair in third.
Millenium Seelster earned his third win of the season from 19 starts and sixth victory lifetime to lift his bankroll over $55,000.
Leamington's 2021 leading trainer Tyler Nostadt won the final two races of the day to bring his meet total to 24. Capping off Nostadt's training title, Blueshoe Investments' nine-year-old pacing gelding SOS Justified ($3) closed out the season with a 1:59.4 victory in the finale to extend his win streak to seven.
Gord McDonnell (13 wins) and Ondrej Gois (seven wins), who each had a closing day wins, finished second and third in the trainer standings.
With a triple on the 11-race card, Tyler Borth overtook Garrett Rooney to claim the Leamington driving title with a total of 34 wins at the meet. Rooney added one win on Sunday to put his season's total at 33. Scott Wray's feature triumph put him at 15 wins this season, good for third-place in the driver standings.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.