Fresh off a victory in the Willowdale Stakes, Twin B Warrior was a going away winner in his next assignment, Saturday night's $30,000 Preferred Pace at Woodbine Racetrack
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Reigning Driver of the Year Randy Waples sent Twin B Warrior to the top from fourth after the :29.1 opening quarter and proceeded to the half in :58.3 while Real Mean Art (Luc Ouellette) launched his attack from the backfield. Real Mean Art applied heavy pressure to three-quarters in 1:27, but Twin B Warrior shook him off around the final bend. The four-year-old gelding opened up three and three-quarter lengths in the stretch to secure the 1:55 victory over a snow covered racetrack. Real Mean Art finished second and Biletnikoff (Mario Baillargeon) came on for third.
Twin B Warrior paid $6.20 as the bettor’s choice. The son of Apaches Fame-What An Attitude is now two-for-four this year with $74,500 earned for trainer Jeff Gillis and owner Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont. Twin B Warrior boasts a record reading 9-10-3 in 28 lifetime starts and has banked $587,361 to date.
Waples also clicked with veteran pacer Activator in the Preferred 2 event for trainer Mike Brealey.
Jody Jamieson rolled Mcapulco to lead from Post 9 and carved out fractions of :27.1, :55.4 and 1:24.3. Meanwhile, Activator and Waples, who were sitting back in seventh, picked up cover from favourite Our Lucky Killean (Keith Oliver). Powering up at the top of the stretch, the 10-year-old son of Western Hanover-Something Electric came flying home in :28-seconds to edge out his rivals in the final strides. Activator prevailed in 1:53.3 by a neck over fellow veteran Our Lucky Killean. Gotcha Covered (Paul MacDonell) and Fire On The Water (Sylvain Filion) were right then in third and fourth.
Activator, the 4-1 third choice in the field, paid $10.60 to win for the first time in four starts this year. The winner of 31 races lifetime has earned $26,100 of his $660,655 bankroll in 2011. He is owned by Rodney McGrath of Burlington, Wallace Gemmill of Brampton, and Gord Waples of Portsevern, Ontario along with Donald Watkins of Pugwash, Nova Scotia.
To view Saturday's results, click here.