Six days removed from his come-from-behind score in the feature race at the Charlottetown Driving Park, Astor made a round trip to victory lane in the $2,200 main event at the PEI half-miler.
Paired up with trainer/driver Jason Hughes, Astor got away fourth from Post 7 before making a first-over bid for the lead on the way to the mid-way point of the mile. He showed a short lead at the three-quarter pole in 1:29.2 and then used a :30.1 closing quarter to win by 2-3/4 lengths over Carnivore in 1:59.3. Taking home the show dough was The Big Bite.
It was the sixth win of the season for the career winner of $139,455. The 15-time winner, who was sent off as the even-money favourite, is owned by Foxyhall Racing of Wallace, Nova Scotia.
The second-last card of the year saw Jason Hughes score a driving triple, while leading driver Marc Campbell remained winless on the day.
In addition to winning the feature, Hughes also visited the winner’s circle with Never Give Up Hope (2:00.4) and SOS Grappa (2:00.3).
Caliban Hanover captured the top trot of the day in 2:04.2 for trainer-driver Ron Gass and owner Wendell MacDonald of Cornwall. The nine-year-old son of Andover Hall defeated cagey veteran Abundaspin and JK Queen.
Corey MacPherson also scored a driving hat trick on the day, while Gary Chappell had two visits to the winner’s circle in the race bike.
Campbell had a four-win lead going into the card with the Hughes victories bringing it down to a one-win advantage heading into the final card of the calendar year on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 7 p.m.
(With files from CDP)
To view results for Friday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Friday Results – Charlottetown Driving Park.