Four-year-old pacer Nickle Bag has not missed the board in the past three months racing on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit and on Saturday night he stormed home from the backfield to add another victory to his impressive 2014 campaign against a full field of Preferred competitors, including Canadian Pacing Derby champion Modern Legend.
Closing from third and fourth over, Sing For Me George and Nickle Bag pulled ahead of the field down the stretch and battled to the wire in a photo finish. Nickle Bag and driver Trevor Henry ultimately prevailed in Woodbine Racetrack's $34,000 Preferred Handicap Pace by a nose in 1:50 flat for trainer Shawn Robinson and owners Linda Loyens of Denfield, Ont. and Harry Loyens of Ilderton, Ont.
Leaving from post eight, Camaes Fellow (Jonathan Drury) charged to the lead over Avatartist (Mike Saftic) while the 4-5 favoured outside assignee, Modern Legend (James MacDonald), sprinted up into contention through a sizzling :25.4 first quarter. Modern Legend worked his way to the top as the pacers headed into the backstretch, but Camaes Fellow refused to sit a pocket trip and quickly retook command.
As the persistent pacesetter led the field by the half in :53.4 and three-quarters in 1:21.4, Wazzup Wazzup (Phil Hudon) advanced first up with Machal Jordan (Roger Mayotte) following his cover. Sing For Me George (Jody Jamieson) and Nickle Bag also moved up in the outer flow.
Down the stretch, Modern Legend slipped through at the pylons while the rest of field began to spread across the track. Sprinting by on the far outside, Nickle Bag edged out Sing For Me George with :26.4 final quarter speed. The runner-up's stablemate, Avatartist, grabbed third-place honours one and a quarter lengths behind over Machal Jordan while Modern Legend rounded out the top five finishers.
Nickle Bag paid $16.10 to win at odds of 7-1. The Rocknroll Hanover gelding has put together a career-best season with 11 wins, 12 seconds and six thirds in 47 starts while earning the bulk of his bankroll, which is just shy of the $300,000 mark after Saturday's score.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.