Bettor On Than Off closed out a successful Truro Raceway campaign with his 12th victory of the meet in the Winners Over Pace on closing day on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8.
A winner of the Winners Over opening day feature back on May 22, Truro's reigning Horse of the Year has remained a consistent competitor all throughout the 2026 season, ending the meet on a four-race win streak in the top class for owner/trainer Danny Romo of Shubenacadie, N.S.
Driven by Robert Laffin for his last eight victories, Bettor On Than Off had just three rivals in the meet's final edition of the $2,500 Winners Over, with one scratch. The 1-9 favourite trailed the short field through the first three-eighths of the mile before starting his overland journey to meet Fifth Estate (Ernie Laffin) on the lead and pushing forward to take over down the backstretch after panels of :29.1, :58.3 and 1:27. He opened up three lengths easily turning for home and kept on going to win by a widening 5-3/4 lengths in 1:56.1. Fifth Estate and sophomore Blazing Cays (Darren Crowe) duked it out for the runner-up honours in the stretch with the latter getting up by a nose at the end. Like A Glove (Marc Whebby) completed the quartet.
Bettor On Than Off, a seven-year-old Bettors Delight-Lights Go Out gelding, is 12-for-19 in his career year, besting his 2025 win total by four. The winner of 28 races lifetime surpassed the $50,000 mark in earnings.
The feature victory capped off a double on the seven-race card for Romo, who ended the meet with 18 wins, tying Darren Crowe for second-place in the trainer standings.
Truro Raceway's perennial leading trainer George Rennison defended his title for the 12th consecutive season with a final win count of 24 after Privilege held off inside closer Windemereontheline by a neck on line in Sunday's fifth race and American Risk took the finale by half a length over Crime Boss.
One of the runners-up for the top training honours, Darren Crowe took back the driving crown with 31 wins in the sulky this year at Truro while Keith Legge, a first-time leader at the Nova Scotia half-miler last year, finished second with 21 wins after a Sunday double with the aforementioned Rennison duo. Crowe's closing day performance included a sweep of the early Daily Double with the Romo-trained sophomore filly Port Hill Polly winning her second straight race and Pam Moore's pacing mare Life Speaks ending a 43-race losing streak. Marc Campbell rounded out the top three in the driver standings with 17 victories at the Truro meet, just one more than Robert Laffin.
George Rennison (left) and Darren Crowe (right) at Truro Raceway.
Truro Raceway honoured 14-year-old pacers Pride Of Paradise and Good Friday Three with retirement presentations in the winner's circle following their final career starts on Sunday's program.
Trained by Henry Smallwood, Pride Of Paradise earned 24 wins, 27 seconds and 47 thirds in his 288 starts with purse earnings of $43,079 while competing at Truro for the majority of his career. Bred in Nova Scotia, the Western Paradise-Always Cheery gelding is owned by Robert Smallwood of New Minas, N.S., and Cyril Harvey of Elmsdale, N.S. He took a lifetime mark of 1:58.3 locally during his career-best seven-year-old season.
Good Friday Three, a 40-time career winner and former North America Cup starter, arrived in the Maritimes in 2017 and closed out his career in the Donnie Ellis stable, owned by Ellis's wife Debbie. The Mach Three-Smileallthewayhome gelding competed in the Invitational ranks in the Maritimes and earned half of his wins since he became a free-legged pacer at the age of nine. He banked $145,101 in purses over 238 lifetime starts and took his mark of 1:51.4 as a three-year-old at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Live harness racing at Truro Raceway is scheduled to resume in the spring.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Truro Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)