Beyond Better and Northern Sultan rallied to victories in Friday evening’s Harvest Series finals at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The Harvest Series, for three-year-old colts and geldings, wrapped up with the $51,400 final for pacers and $50,500 final for trotters. Full fields of 10 competed in each final.
Beyond Better capitalized on wicked fractions up front, rallying from fifth and seven lengths off at the head of the lane to score a career-best 1:52 win. Trevor Henry guided the Bob McIntosh trainee to his fifth victory in 13 starts this season.
Beach Demon did the heavy lifting early, posting sizzling fractions of :27.2, :54.2 and 1:22.2. The torrid pace did in Beach Demon, who gamely hung on for a fourth-place finish.
Beyond Better sat fifth throughout and swept by rivals on the far outside with a :28.1 final quarter to win by a length and a half. Delightful Terror sat fairly close to the hot tempo in third and split through to finish second. Heart On My Sleeve followed Beyond Better’s path to a third-place finish.
A gelded son of Bettors Delight, Beyond Better moves up to $71,810 in earnings for owners Robert McIntosh Stables, Dave Boyle and Mardon Stables. Unraced at age two, Beyond Better now has back-to-back victories to go along with a pair of runner-up finishes in the two starts prior.
Beyond Better returned $5.80 to win.
Northern Sultan and driver Chris Christoforou had a similar path to victory, coming from sixth at the top of the stretch for a career-best 1:55.3 victory. The Murray Brethour trainee came into Friday’s final off a victory in round two, but was overlooked, scoring a 10-1 upset.
Heavy favourite Moon Bridge had a tough journey from post nine, spending just over the first half of the race parked before touching down on the lead. The public’s top choice took the field down to three-quarters in 1:25.2 with pressure being applied.
The backfield came to life in the lane with Northern Sultan powering up to score the victory by three-quarters of a length. Lexus Markus came from well back in ninth to finish second, extending his unlucky streak of second-place finishes to four in a row. Magics Wizard rallied from seventh to finish third, while Moon Bridge had to settle for fourth.
A homebred for Northfields Farm, Northern Sultan is now three-for-11 on the season with $57,272 earned. The gelded son of Royalty For Life made just two starts as a rookie.
Those that backed the Brethour-trained Northern Sultan got back $22.40 for a $2 win ticket.
The Harvest Series was open to Ontario sired three-year-olds that were non-winners of $30,000 this year as of September 30, 2020.
Live racing continues Friday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Post time is 7 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(With files from Woodbine Mohawk Park)