Arrakis maneuvered a perfect trip to win the $13,000 Preferred Trot at The Raceway at the Western Fair District on Tuesday evening (March 28).
Second choice Scene A Magician (Garrett Rooney) left heftily out of the gate to take control of the lead as Arrakis and driver Tyler Moore settled in for the pocket trip. Scene A Magician marched through the opening quarter in :28, leading by 1-3/4 lengths over his opponents. At the half in :58.1, favourite Sizzlen Hot Herbie (Scott Coulter) popped off the rail on a first-over trip in pursuit of the leader. As Sizzlen Hot Herbie grinded up the outside, his bid stalled, allowing Arrakis to make his move. Moore pulled the plugs on Arrakis and they pulled out of the pocket as they passed the three-quarters in 1:27.2. Around the final turn, it was a race between Arrakis and Scene A Magician. Arrakis sprinted away from Scene A Magician in the stretch to win by 3-1/4 lengths in 1:56.4. Scene A Magician held on for second as Eyes Of Justice (Tyler Borth) maneuvered up the inside to grab third.
Arrakis is an 11-year-old trotter owned by Francis Guillemette and Robert Bernicky. The veteran trotter, trained by Guillemette, notched his 42nd career win to go along with $570,500 in lifetime earnings. Arrakis paid $18.70 to win.
Bucktober successfully captured his eighth win in a row on Tuesday with Tyler Borth in the bike. The victory was a new lifetime mark in 1:59.2 for the young trotter. Of his 10 starts this season, Bucktober has won eight of them, all gate-to-wire victories. He has not missed the board with the two remaining starts a second and fourth-place finish. Tyler Borth trains and co-owns the four-year-old gelding with Karen Sparling and William Borth. Bucktober has $76,158 in career earnings and 15 wins in 30 lifetime starts.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Tuesday Results - The Raceway at the Western Fair District.