The final card of 2021 at Northside Downs was contested on Saturday (Nov. 13) with the training and driving titles coming down to the final two dashes.
Only one win separated Robert MacNeil and Harold Leblanc on the training leaderboard, with MacNeil holding a 13-12 edge heading into the final feature of the meet, the $1,800 Winners Over Pace. Southwind Leblanc's Southwind Ricardo needed to knock off the MacNeil-trained duo of Gentry Seelster and Kiss Me Im Irish plus three other rivals to put Leblanc on even terms.
The Big Chase (Harold LeBlanc Jr.) tried to do all the heavy lifting on the engine over a track listed as four seconds off, but he wasn't given any breathers during that front-end mission. Favoured Red Rum She Wrote (Barry Bates) pressured the pacesetter through panels of :29.2, 1:00.2 and 1:31.
Gentry Seelster sat the pocket throughout the first three quarters for driver Adam Lynk, and managed to find a seam to tip into the three path around the final turn as Southwind Ricardo (Greg Sparling) started to gap his second-over tow. It appeared as though Gentry Seelster would be able to capitalize on that battle, and he did. But Southwind Ricardo found another gear late once the field hit the stretch and, after being angled to the four path by Sparling and shown clear sailing, got his nose on the line first in a four-horse photo, with the mile timed in 2:02.2. Gentry Seelster was just back of the winner in second, with Red Rum She Wrote a gutsy third.
Now a 47-time career winner, Southwind Ricardo ($9.40) is trained by Harold Le Blanc, and he co-owns the eight-year-old gelded son of Dragon Again - Southwind Rio with Joel Le Blanc of Victoria Mines, William Seymour and Bernie Gillis of Glace Bay, N.S. The winner's share of the purse gives Southwind Ricardo $117,967 in earnings.
The victory also nudged Leblanc onto equal footing with MacNeil, and both trainers ended the meet with 13 victories to top the standings.
In the final dash of the meet, driver Mark Pezzarello picked up his second win of the day courtesy Sandra O'Donnell's veteran Wildcat Jet ($10.30), and that lifted Pezzarello into a tie with the idle Ryan Campbell to finish in a tie atop the drivers' standings with 27 wins apiece.
Harness racing is set to return to Northside Downs in May 2022.
To view the results for the Saturday card of harness racing from Cape Breton, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.