J.R. Plante reached 3,000 career driving wins as the reinsman piloted Partyintheshadows to victory in the second race at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sunday, March 15.
Plante floated the gelding away from post seven and positioned him behind favourite Titanic Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy), heading two-wide into the first turn. Partyintheshadows followed him until Titanic Hanover cleared nearing the quarter in :27 and Plante pushed his charge to the lead on the backstretch. Titanic Hanover retook control on the way to the half in :56.2 and led the field to three-quarters in 1:25.3, rebuffing the first-over Captain Highliner (Jonathan Drury) as they straightened for home. Partyintheshadows then pulled out of the tow and gathered steam down the stretch, rolling past Titanic Hanover late to win by a length in 1:54.4. Early Play (Travis Cullen) surged for third.
The winner, trained by Gerard Demers for Francois Morin of Beauceville, Que., earned his first win since 2024. The eight-year-old gelded son of Shadow Play-Tea Party Princess is now 19-for-143 lifetime. He paid $6 to win.
Plante picked up his 3,000th win in his 18,482nd career drive. The reinsman, one of Ontario’s top B-track drivers in the early 2010s, achieved the 2,000-win milestone more than 13 years ago. Along with racing, Plante is also a dedicated hockey coach and has devoted much of his time to that calling over the past decade. But he returned to driving full time in late 2024 and quickly broke through to regular status at Woodbine Mohawk Park in 2025, winning 102 races in 1,064 starts last year after having just 80 drives the season prior. The Burlington, Ont. resident, also a successful poker player, made his driving debut in 1999 and has since recorded earnings of more than $19.5 million. He is 36-for-253 this year.
Three new Pop-Up Series kicked off on the Sunday card, with Johnny Buckshot ($4.90) dominating the richest event, a $16,000 first-leg dash for trotters that have started for a purse of $11,000 or less this year (and winners over $120,000 last year ineligible). Lamandier A ($11.70) won the $14,000 opener of the series for pacing horses and geldings that have started for a purse of $9,000 or less and have not earned more than $20,000 this year. Winners of the $8,500 divisions of the $7,500 claiming series for pacers were Partyintheshadows, Moneybags ($4), Dan Speed ($12.20) and Maloucious ($123.80).
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)