Driver Guy Gagnon and trainer Richard Moreau teamed up to sweep half of the Ottawa South Claiming Series' first leg divisions on Friday night at Rideau Carleton
Raceway. The series is for $10,000 claiming trotters that are non-winners of $40,000 (fillies and mares $50,000) lifetime as of Nov. 15, 2010.
Gagnon and Moreau won two of the four $11,250 divisions with the popular fillies Eagle Trace and Everybody Nos Her. Track Legal and Alpha pulled off a pair of upsets in the middle splits.
Eagle Trace ($4.10) went gate-to-wire to win the opening division by two and three-quarter lengths in 2:02.2 over a ‘good’ track rated two seconds off for driver Guy Gagnon and trainer Richard Moreau. Tijuana Tag (Stephane Gendron) followed in the pocket for second and D C Judge (Maxime Audet) advanced first over to show. The three-year-old Angus Hall-Duxelle Hanover filly, a winner of five races in 14 starts this year, is owned by Ecurie Gaetan Bono Inc. of Montreal, Que.
Track Legal ($14.10) and trainer-driver Ted McDonald sat fourth for most of the mile before kicking home to score by a half-length over the popular Gogetno (Gord Brown) in 2:02.4. Pacesetter Little Moola (Guy Gagnon) finished third. The four-year-old gelded son of Angus Hall-Miss K C earned his second win in 14 seasonal start for the the Dobe Stables of Rideau Ferry and Julie Ferguson of Greely, Ont.
Alpha Hall ($13.30) came on to win his division by a quarter-length over favourite Acacia De Chakrika (Ted McDonald) in 2:02.3. Third place went to Elegante Duharas (Gord Brown). Denis St Pierre drove the four-year-old gelded son of Tom Ridge-Alis Cat for trainer Gerard Demers and owner Sylvain Cote of Joliette, Que. The victory was Alpha Hall's fourth in 23 starts this year.
Everybody Nos Her ($3.70) converted a pocket trip into a 2:01.3 victory in the final division for Gagnon and Moreau. The sophomore daughter of Angus Hall-Nobody Nos Butme, also owned and bred by Ecurie Gaetan Bono Inc., prevailed by two and a quarter lengths over Bee Sparky (Jason Gilchrist) and pacesetter Likaty (Kyle Forgie). The win improved her record to 3-6-2 in 13 starts.
To view Friday's results, click here.