Repeat winner Kindofabigdeal and 66-1 upsetter Verbalize shared the spotlight in the second round of the Valedictory Series on Friday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
The series is for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings that are non-winners of $50,000 as of Oct. 31.
Driven by Roger Mayotte, Verbalize circled a field of eight in the first $15,000 division to score a career-best victory in 1:53.1 for trainer Ed Galinski and owner Ronald Dale Randall. The Tell All gelding paid $134.40 for a $2 win ticket.
Firing off the gate from the outside post position, American Island (Trevor Henry) quickly crossed over to command into a :26.3 opening panel and then gave way to the parked out Major Deagan (Anthony MacDonald) into the backstretch before moving back out for the retake. The 30-1 shot led the way past the half in :54.3 and three-quarters in 1:23.1. Meanwhile, Verbalize was spotted third over as the field headed around the final turn and he sprinted home to prevail by two lengths with Ransom Demand (Chris Christoforou) and Mittcent Van Gogh (James MacDonald) coming on for second and third, respectively.
Lightly raced as a freshman, Verbalize has won four of his 22 starts this year while pushing his career earnings to $23,837.
Hudson Standardbred Stables' Kindofabigdeal was a wire-to-wire winner in the fastest division, clocking his mile in 1:52.2 for driver Sylvain Filion and trainer Richard Moreau.
Leaving from the outside seven-hole, the No Pan Intended gelding carved out fractions of :26.4, :55.3 and 1:24 en route to the three-quarter-length victory over the pylon-skimming Autumn Series champion, Rural Art (Mario Baillargeon), and early trailer Company Man (James MacDonald).
Sent postward as the 6-5 favourite after winning his first leg division in 1:52 on Dec. 12, Kindofabigdeal paid $4.50 to win. Unraced as a two-year-old, he is now five-for-nine with $49,620 in the bank.
Filion won a total of four races on Friday's 11-dash card, including three for Moreau, defending O'Brien Award winner and one of this year's finalists.
The final of the Valedictory Series will be contested during Woodbine Racetrack’s Boxing Day matinee card, which gets underway at 1 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.