Millionaire Keystone Horatio earned his first victory amongst Open company for driver Randy Waples and trainer John Kopas on Friday night at Woodbine Racetrack
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The four-year-old son of Rustler Hanover-Keystone Havoc, sent postward as the 5-2 third choice, fired off a :26-second opening quarter but was shuffled back to third by the :55.1 half as the parked out favourite, Ramegade Bruiser (Jody Jamieson) forged ahead with an unruly Dali (Luc Ouellette) moving out for the challenge.
Dali cleared the front before the third quarter mark of 1:22.2 and Waples sent his charge back out. Keystone Horatio unleashed a :27.3 closing quarter to coast past the leader in the stretch. He prevailed by a length and a quarter in 1:50.1 while a second-over Hyperion Hanover (Rick Zeron) and Eagle Luck (Mike Saftic) came on for second and third.
Keystone Horatio won for the fifth time in 19 starts this year and the lion’s share of the $50,000 purse lifted his earnings to $149,400. The bay pushed his win tally to 15 and total bankroll to $1,188,549 for the Estate Of George F Hempt Trust of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
To view Friday’s harness racing results, click here.