Forwardly placed by driver Richard Simard early on, Ghirardelli Lindy pulled off an 11-1 upset in the $8,550 Winners Over Handicap Trot on Sunday night (December 17) at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Last week's winner Raising Richard, the 7-5 favourite, made front after the :27.4 opening quarter over Crown Classic and Ghirardelli Lindy then put up middle splits of :58 and 1:28. However, Ghirardelli Lindy swept up to take over command in the final turn and trotted away to win for the 29th time in his career, scoring by one and three-quarters lengths in 1:57.4. Unabating checked in second after out-finishing Ifihadabrain, who had rallied three-wide down the backstretch.
Trained by Robert Dube for owner Saul Mendelson, the eight-year-old Chocolatier gelding has won two of his last three starts in the top trot and eight times this season from 29 starts. His seasonal earnings of $42,919 have increased his total bankroll to $177,499.
Francois Morin's National Debt progressed from last to first throughout the co-featured $8,400 Winners Over Handicap Pace under the guidance of Stephane Gendron. The Yves Tessier trainee prevailed by three-quarters of a length in 1:55 with Killer Thiller chasing in second and The Love Bug rounding out the top three. He paid $5.90 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
The win was the second in a row, 12th this year and 27th lifetime for the six-year-old son of Allamerican Native, who has banked $365,875 in purses to date.
Gerard Demers led all trainers for wins on the 12-race card with HP Patriote ($5.20) and Little Quick ($5.30) scoring back-to-back victories in the second and third races and then KFB Amigo Kool ($9.60) winning the 10th race. Jonathan Lachance was aboard for all three wins as part of a driving grand slam.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results – Rideau Carleton Raceway.