Trotting stalwart Armbro Chronicle notched yet another victory against Open level trotters at Woodbine Racetrack despite encountering traffic troubles which resembled the 401 highway on a Friday night
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Pinned to the rail for most of the mile, Armbro Chronicle managed to extricate himself at the head of the lane en route to posting his second consecutive win in the class.
Mike Saftic got away fourth with the seven-year-old son of Self Possessed, who watched Enny Youngman throw down an opening quarter in :27.4. Please Poppy popped out of the pocket as the field entered the backstretch and he proceeded to wheel the field to the mid-way point in :57.2.
Please Poppy rolled to the three-quarter pole in 1:26.2, and in doing so opened up by more than three lengths on his trotting counterparts. Locked in for most of the backstretch and the final turn, Mike Saftic wiggled off the cones at the head of the lane with Armbro Chronicle, who set his sights on the leader.
The gelding, who was six lengths away from Please Poppy with two furlongs remaining, used a :27.3 final frame to reel in Please Poppy in a time of 1:55.1 Please Poppy held for the runner-up award and Enny Youngman was third.
“I didn’t want to remove to the front tonight, it’s pretty windy out there,” said driver Mike Saftic. “We had some traffic troubles, but it all worked out. The Lord was with us. Even though Jack [Moiseyev driving Please Poppy] opened up on us, we managed to reel him in. The old man ground him down.”
Trainer Kent Baker, who co-owns the trotter with Cal Patterson, Randy Fielder and Wayne Smith, watched the gelding pick up his 31st lifetime win while pushing his bankroll to $1,039,892.
To view Monday’s results, click here.