A pair of winter series events got underway at Woodbine Racetrack, giving Driver of the Year candidate Trevor Henry and Trainer of the Year nominee Richard Moreau a perfect platform to kick off multiple-win performances on the eve of Canadian harness racing's 2014 O'Brien Awards.
Friday night's card featured the first legs of The Count B Series for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings, split into two $17,000 divisions, and the Ontario Girls Series for four-year-old pacing mares, contested in just one $18,000 division.
A field of seven battled in an eventful first division to get Count B action underway.
Conversation Boy, the 4-5 bettors' choice, got away early in fifth, but made a break as the field turned into the backstretch. The miscue was quickly resolved and driver Sylvain Filion elected to roll the favourite to the front, eventually clearing in front of the leader Newbie (James MacDonald) just after the midway point.
Conversation Boy led the field around the final turn, but was confronted first up by Dialamara and driver Trevor Henry. Meanwhile, Legion Of Boom (Doug McNair), the 5-2 second choice, was pacing along in fourth, but made a break just before the three-quarter pole taking himself out of contention.
In the stretch, Conversation Boy and Dialamara slugged it out, while Newbie came off the rail to the outside to make it a close three-horse finish. At the wire, Dialamara came away with a three-quarters of a length victory over Conversation Boy in 1:54.3. Newbie finished third.
Legion Of Boom recovered from the final turn break to finish fourth, but was placed back to sixth for interference while on a break.
A three-year-old son of Lis Mara, Dialamara was making his first start of 2015. The sophomore now has three career wins from nine starts for trainer Patrick Fletcher and owner John Lamers of Ingersoll, Ont. Friday night’s victory pushes his bankroll over $40,000 and the clocking of 1:54.3 lowers his lifetime mark by more than three seconds.
Dialamara returned $10.70 to win.
In the second division, Camvicted went gate-to-wire to remain undefeated in three starts.
Also driven by Trevor Henry, the Richard Moreau-trained Camvicted sprinted out to the lead ahead of his five other rivals and was able to call the shots without any challengers through the first three-quarters of the mile.
Camvicted posted fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:26.4 and faced his first challenge when His Boy Elroy (Jody Jamieson) came first up from fourth around the final turn to draw within half a length of the leader.
In the stretch, Camvicted and Henry were able to fight off His Boy Elroy and Shippen Out (Anthony MacDonald) on the far outside, while also keeping Nobettorplacetobe (Mick Saftic) locked in the pocket to win in 1:56. Shippen Out finished second by a length, while Nobettorplacetobe finished third just ahead of His Boy Elroy.
A three-year-old son of Camluck, Camvicted has now won the first three starts of his career in 2015 for owners Doug and Dennis Belan of Oil Springs, Ont. and Brian Fitzgerald of Dresden, Ont. The homebred pacer now has a bankroll of $22,500.
A $2 win ticket on Camvicted returned $3.20.
In order to be eligible to The Count B Series, the three-year-old pacers had to be non-winners of three races or $40,000 lifetime as of October 31, 2014.
Artistic Fusion carried the momentum from her Blizzard Series sweep into round one of the Ontario Girls.
Driven by Sylvain Filion, Artistic Fusion left from post nine and was parked past the :27.3 opening quarter before eventually clearing to the front in the first turn.
Filion was able to tap the breaks in the second-quarter and reached the half in :58. Around the final turn, Mea Lilley Mark (Mike Saftic) came first up to challenge the leader and the mares passed the three-quarter pole in 1:26.2.
In the stretch, Artistic Fusion put away Mea Lilley Mark, but had to deal with Performing Art (Trevor Henry), who got a two-hole trip, coming at her on the inside. Artistic Fusion was able to hold off Performing Art to reach the wire first and win by a head in 1:56.1. Jakardez (Kody Massey) got up for third, while Bet Ya (Jack Moiseyev) finished fourth.
Artistic Fusion is trained by Joe Agostino and has now won four consecutive starts to remain undefeated in 2015. Friday night’s win was the 10th of her career and pushes her career earnings over $115,000 for owner Mike Foote of Venice, Florida.
Artistic Fusion returned $3.90 to win.
In order to be eligible to the Ontario Girls, the four-year-old pacing mares had to be non-winners of $100,000 lifetime or $50,000 last year as of October 31, 2014.
The second leg of both The Count B and the Ontario Girls will take place next Friday (February 13).
Trevor Henry ended the night with five wins on the 11-race card. He also scored with the Carman Hie Stables' Hie Benny ($4.40) overtaking the streaking double-gaited mare Pureform Olympia at the third quarter mark en route to a four and three-quarter length victory in a lifetime-best 1:56.4. Later, he won back-to-back races with Dean Nixon trainees O Narutac Perfetto ($4.30) and Rubis Prescott ($3.10).
Richard Moreau tripled up on the night, earning his other victories with Exemplar ($7) and Grande Diablo ($7.70). Both winners were making their debuts from the Moreau stable and were driven by Sylvain Filion.
This week's $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace went to repeat winner Marquise De Sarah ($3.60), who took over the lead in the backstretch and fought gamely to the wire in 1:52.4. The David Menary pupil then survived an inquiry after going inside two consecutive pylons around the final turn, but judges ruled she did not gain an unfair advantage and the results were made official.
Jody Jamieson drove the five-year-old Mach Three mare, whose career earnings went over $300,000 for owner/breeder Robert Bridges of Burlington, Ont.
Early leader D Gs Pesquero (Jonathan Drury) was the runner-up while Greystone Ladylike (Doug McNair) and Waasmula (Trevor Henry) finished third in a dead-heat.
Racing resumes at Woodbine on Saturday night featuring the first leg of the Ontario Boys Series and the Preferred Pace. The Jackpot Hi 5 carryover is now $274,167.22. First race post time is 7:25 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.
(With files from WEG)