Perfect in his preliminary divisions, Blade Runner brushed to command in front of the grandstand and led the field back down the stretch the second time around to win the $36,200 final of the Hump Day Claiming Series on Wednesday night at Georgian Downs
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Leaving from Posts 3 and 4 respectively, 3-5 favourite Blade Runner (Sylvain Filion) and 44-1 longshot Elm Grove Elvis (Scott Coulter) sprinted off the gate together, but Blade Runner let his rival clear before the :27-second opening quarter mark and then rolled back out to take over in front of the grandstand.
Once in control, Blade Runner took the field past the half in :56.1 while Keyed Entry (James MacDonald) launched a first over attack from third and applied pressure to the leader. However, Blade Runner took off as they approached the 1:24.2 three-quarters mark leaving Keyed Entry to drop into a gapping two-hole.
The popular Mach Three-Armbro Athletic gelding then sprinted home in :28.4 to establish a new life's mark of 1:53.1. Keyed Entry finished second while Sweater Vest (J.R. Plante) rallied home from the back of the pack to grab third.
Blade Runner paid $4.30 to win. The four-year-old pacer, owned by Tonya Backus of York, Ont., joined trainer Richard Moreau's stable prior to the beginning of the series and has since won every start while lowering his lifetime mark each week. Blade Runner won his Nov. 16 opening leg in 1:55.3 and scored another win in the second round on Nov. 23 in 1:53.4 before shaving three-fifths of a second off his mark in tonight's final. The win was his fourth in 15 starts this season and boosted his 2011 earnings to $31,290.
The series was for non-winners of $30,000 lifetime, racing for a claiming price of $10,000 in the preliminary legs.
Earlier on the card, Dave Snowden’s homebred Rock Me Amastreos went from last to first in the $15,000 Preferred 2 Pace.
Fresh off a win at the Preferred 2 level at Kawartha Downs on Nov. 24, the Arthur Balson-trained Rock Me Amastreos (Kyle Balson) trailed the field early on after leaving from the outside starting spot in the seven-horse field, but made up his 10-1/2 length deficit when he rallied three-wide from third over at the third quarter station. The four-year-old Astreos-Queens Arms pacer dug in down the stretch to come on for the 1:53.2 triumph, prevailing by a quarter length over first over attacker Scottiestrikesfame (Travis Bowman) while 28-1 longshot Winter Blues (Billy Davis Jr.) edged out the popular pacesetter, Windsun Callum (Aaron Byron), for third over three lengths behind.
Rock Me Amastreos paid $15.40 to win as the 6-1 fifth choice in the field. He now sports a record reading 5-5-4 in 33 starts this year and has banked $63,450 in 2011.
To view Wednesday’s harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results – Georgian Downs.