The chips continued to fall into place for the Mark Herlihy-trained Fall In Place, who ran his win streak up to five on Monday in the featured $13,500 Preferred Pace at Western Fair Raceway
. Compass Connection and Sammy Syd also scored victories in their respective Preferred assignments.
In the main event, Xlb Patrick (Trevor Henry) was quickest off the wings of the gate from Post 3 but yielded to the 9-5 favourite Fall In Place and driver Anthony Haughan, who swept from third to first past the :27.3 opening quarter.
As the field raced to the halfway point in :56.3, newcomer Outlawpositivcharg (Brad Forward) moved first-up from fourth but stalled after advancing only one position, forcing R Lil King (Doug McNair) to make a three-wide move up the backstretch with Monster In Law (Alfred Carroll) following and Secret Weapon (Bruce Richardson) edging out even wider.
Meanwhile, on the front Fall In Place maintained a comfortable lead as three-quarters flashed in 1:25.4. Heading into the stretch, R Lil King tried to press the leader, but Fall In Place kicked away to a one and three-quarter length score in 1:55.4.
R Lil King finished second with the pocket-sitting Xlb Patrick (Trevor Henry) coming in third.
John Simeonidis of Ancaster, Ont. owns five-year-old Cambest-Hurray Hanover gelding, who has won seven times in 24 starts this year banking $43,568. Fall In Place has won nine times in his career and is just $8,000 shy of reaching the $100,000 mark in earnings.
After finishing second by a half-length in last Monday’s $10,000 Preferred 2 Pace, Compass Connection stepped it up a notch to take this week’s edition in 1:55. The son of Village Connection-Compass Rose remained parked to the opening quarter in :27.4, but once driver Jody Jamieson settled Compass Connection on the lead, he coasted past the half in :57 and three-quarters in 1:26. Using a :29-second final frame the seven-year-old gelding finished off his rivals, pacing away by two and a half lengths.
Chevron Hanover (Stuart Sowerby) pocketed the runner-up’s share of the purse while Front Nine (Alfred Carroll) brushed three-wide in the backstretch and closed well for third.
Richard Moreau trains and owns Compass Connection with Keith Cassell of Smiths Falls, Ont. The win was his eighth in 24 starts this year bumping his earnings to $92,475. The 31-time winner now boasts $366,209 in lifetime earnings.
After a placing due to interference in the $11,500 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace, Sammy Syd was deemed the winner in a clocking of 1:56.1. The daughter of Astreos-Quest For Truth settled in fourth from the outside Post 7 under the guidance of Mike Whelan while St Lads Seraph (Doug McNair) used the inside position to her advantage and fired off the fastest quarter of the day in :27.1.
From there 6-5 favourite Sammy Syd moved to the outside while the leader took a few bad steps at the half in :57, but recovered and paced past three-quarters in 1:26.1. She held off Sammy Syd in the stretch by a neck but St Lad Seraph's miscue cost her the race as she was placed back to eighth for causing interference with the pocket-sitting My Ideal (Brad Forward) and Power In Rein (Robert Shepherd) at the half.
Sammy Syd earned the victory while Plumbing Princess (Don Rankin, Jr.) and My Ideal were bumped up to second and third.
Trainer Jean Young shares ownership of the five-year-old mare with Gord Young of London, Ont. The winner of nine races in 32 starts this season has earned $72,431. Sammy Syd’s 18th lifetime score pushed her bankroll to $162,242.
To view Monday's harness racing results, click here.