Hilldrop Shady pulled off a 24-1 shocker as he prevailed in a three-horse photo finish in the $8,500 Open Pace on a snowy Saturday night at Northlands Park
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Wally McKay's Hilldrop Shady pulled off a pair of upsets in early January including the fastest local mile of 2012 with a 1:54.1 winning effort -- and did it again, getting up in the nick of time for the 1:56.3 score over a 'good' track on a -10 degree Celsius Saturday night.
When the word 'go' was given, three horses fired off the gate in a three-wide battle for the early lead while Hilldrop Shady and Brent Grundy settled into fourth position. Widest of them all from the outside Post 6 was Gts Jake (Jamie Gray), who eventually cleared to command over Sixdaysontheroad (Bill Tainsh Jr.) and insider All Canadian Mjjz (Jeff Stone) during a :27.4 opening split.
With the backfield beginning to roll around the second turn, the popular All Canadian Mjjz was flushed first up at the 1:00 half-mile mark and was just a neck off the lead by the 1:27.3 three-quarter pole.
All Canadian Mjjz swept by Gts Jake down the stretch while Sixdaysontheroad and Hilldrop Shady launched a pair of late attacks making it into a three-horse win photo. Hilldrop Shady had the most momentum -- a :28.1 final frame -- and nipped his rivals on the grandstand side. Sixdaysontheroad and All Canadian Mjjz were a close second and third respectively. Gts Jake finished two lengths back in fourth.
Hilldrop Shady returned $51.70 to win. Now three-for-six in 2012, the Ken Read trainee has banked $15,120 in his six-year-old year. Saturday's win was the Shady Character-Grecian Formula gelding's 20th lifetime and pushed his career earnings over the $100,000 mark.
Trainer Gerry Hudon enjoyed a productive night at the office with three of his pupils pacing to victory lane. Hudon scored with Attitudenous ($16.30) and Kg Art Dreamer ($3.60), along with the Bobby Clark-driven Big Bang Theory ($16.10) while stablemate Baja Beach finished second in that event.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Northlands Park.