Roulette Hanover trailed the field of nine top distaffers at the quarter pole in Friday's $12,500 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace at Century Mile but went from last to first for driver and co-owner Phil Giesbrecht.
There were five lead changes throughout the contested feature with Roulette Hanover the last to strike, moving up into contention heading to the final turn and drawing off by three lengths at the end of the 1:54.2 mile. The Gerry Hudon trainee earned her first victory at the Preferred level, pulling off the 7-1 upset and paying $16.10 to win.
The fractions went in :26.3, :55.2 and 1:25.2 with none of the front-runners holding for the minor spoils. Gin Is Better (Clint Warrington Jr.) finished second and Pirate Booty (Terry Kaufman) was third.
Roulette Hanover has hit the board in a dozen starts this year, with this being her sixth winning performance. Giesbrecht co-owns the four-year-old All Bets Off-R Ellen Hanover mare with Monica Hudon of Sturgeon County, Alta., and Denise Andrew of Calgary, Alta.
The winning connections doubled up on Friday night, with the lightly raced three-year-old pacing filly Poker Queen scoring her third win in a row earlier on the card.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)