Harness racing fans were accurate in their projections for the New Year's Eve feature at The Raceway at Western Fair District as their 4-5 favourite Sportsline delivered a wire-to-wire winning performance in the evening's $11,000 Preferred Pace.
Leaving from post two in rein to Natasha Day, Sportsline made a beeline to the lead before the first turn and clocked panels of :28.2, :58 and 1:26.3 before holding off the pocket-popping 9-5 second choice, Drinkin Buddy (Samuel Fillion), in the stretch for the 1:56 victory by less than a length amid mixed precipitation over the 'good' track. It Takes Two (Lorne House) rallied from the back of the six-horse field to show.
Trained by Pat Bissett and owned by Craig Parrott of Windsor, Ont., Sportsline has won two of his last five starts at the London, Ont. oval with three seconds in between his winner's circle appearances. He paid $3.60 to win as the bettors' choice.
Completing a six-win season, the eight-year-old Sportswriter-Angel In Disguise gelding brought his lifetime record to 34-18-9 from 105 starts while his earnings climbed to $312,546.
While shutout on the final card of the year, Garrett Rooney was the leading driving at The Raceway in 2024 with 156 wins. Travis Henry was the runner-up with 148 victories and Tyler Borth rounded out the top three drivers after making 95 trips to the Western Fair winner's circle.
For the third straight year, Cassidy Schneider topped the track's trainer standings. Adding a pair of New Year's Eve wins to her record, she ended the year at The Raceway with 47 victories, finishing seven wins ahead of runner-up Cameron McQueen while Gerard Demers sent out 34 local winners to rank third.
Live harness racing resumes at The Raceway on New Year's Day, with post time at 5:50 p.m.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)