Nobananas put his nose to the grindstone in Monday’s co-featured $13,500 Preferred Trot at Western Fair Raceway and pulled off a front-end score while Oakley Seelster waited until the final quarter to make the winning move in the matching Preferred Pace
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Leaving from the inside post position, Nobananas and Mike Whelan established the early lead before Long Ago (Dan Clemmer) crossed over from Post 4. Refusing to sit a pocket trip, Nobananas moved out and around the favourite and carved out early fractions of :28.4 and 1:00.3 with Connected Yankee (Paul MacKenzie) applying pressure from first over.
At the 1:30.3 third quarter mark, Connected Yankee made a break leaving Nobananas in the clear. The nine-year-old Earl-Suelstone gelding stopped the clock in 2:01 while Long Ago finished a length and three-quarters behind and longshot Dashing Earl (Trevor Henry) rounded out the top three. The 7-2 fourth choice returned $9.60 to win.
Nobananas, who has yet to finish out of the money in four starts this season, picked up his first win tonight and lifted his earnings to $11,070. Trainer Kim Matthews shares ownership of the bay with Rockwood’s Murray Cox. The winner of 33 races lifetime now boasts $364,836 in earnings.
In Monday’s co-featured Preferred Pace, Oakley Seelster was also assigned the inside post, but used a different strategy to win in 1:55.3 with driver Trevor Henry aboard. The six-year-old son of Western Maverick-Opening Argument sat third at the rail as favourite Monster In Law (Alfie Carroll) lead the way through stations of :27.1, :56.4 and 1:25.1 with Part Shark (Doug McNair) battling alongside and pushing a neck in front.
While Monster In Law dug in and regained the lead heading down the stretch, Oakley Seelster angled wide and made a late dash for the cash, using a 29.4 final quarter to prevail by a length and a quarter. Monster In Law and Part Shark were second and third. The 2-1 second choice paid $6.70 to win.
Oakley Seelster has won three of his five races this season, finishing third in all other starts. His 24th lifetime win pushed his yearly earnings to $19,990 and lifetime earnings to $230,476 for trainer John Jennedy, who co-owns with Clayton Walmsely of Walkerton, Ont.
Favourite Bacio Hanover, trained and owned by Richard Carroll, used front-end tactics to get the job done in the $10,000 Preferred 2 Trot with Alfie Carroll in the bike. The four-year-old son of Kadabra-Betrayed By A Kiss was three lengths ahead of his nearest rival, Spirit Of Canada (Alan Morrison), when his tripped the teletimer in 2:00.1.
Since joining Carroll’s barn at the end of January, Bacio Hanover has won three consecutive times giving him a three-for-six record on the year and earnings totalling $18,250. The 11-time career winner is less than $5,000 shy of $100,000 in earnings.
Button Up, the 2-1 second choice in the $10,000 Preferred 2 Pace, went all the way to win in 1:57.1 after finishing second in his five previous starts for driver Mike Horner and trainer Mark Horner. The seven-year-old son of Northern Luck-Better Butter held off Pacific Oak (Ken Oliver) by a neck to win while longshot Yankee Apollo (Trevor Henry) rounded out the top three.
The lion’s share of the purse pushed Button Up’s 2010 earnings to $15,800 for the Sure Gain Stable of Mitchell, Ont. The victory was the bay’s 21st of his career and bumped his bankroll to $531,779.
To view Monday's results, click here.