Eve Marie Seelster has clearly taken a liking to The Raceway at Western Fair District as she now boasts a five-for-five record over the London, Ont. track after Wednesday's victory in the $10,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred 2 & 3 Handicap Pace.
With the inside post advantage, Emerald Rihanna (Nick Steward) established the lead over Katherine B (Garrett Rooney) in the evening's feature event and fronted the field of eight through fractions of :28.1, :59.1 and 1:28.1 before fading. Zip Car (Scott Coulter) led the outer flow from third, with Eve Marie Seelster moving from mid-pack to follow her cover after the opening panel. Driver Alfie Carroll then sent 'Eve Marie' three-wide down the backstretch with the rest of the field bunching up as they passed by three-quarters. She edged ahead of her inner rivals around the final turn and battled with Zip Car down the lane while early trailer Mappos Moenhay (J Harris) dove inside and closed late to make it a three-across finish. Eve Marie Seelster ultimately prevailed in 1:58 by a neck over Mappos Moenhay, who was making her Raceway debut after winning a Preferred 3 class at Flamboro Downs for Carroll last time out in late-February. Zip Car finished a half-length back in third.
With back-to-back wins coming into Wednesday's Preferred, Eve Marie Seelster was the 4-5 favourite and paid $3.60 to win.
Her perfect record at The Raceway -- all five of her London starts in 2016 -- was facilitated by trainer Victor Puddy. The eight-year-old Artiscape mare is owned by Keith Cassell of Smiths Falls, Ont.
Eve Marie Seelster, who boasts 35 career wins on her resume, has raced at 18 different tracks, most of which stateside. She also has a perfect record (two-for-two) at Harrington Raceway and won her only start at Ocean Downs, but has earned most of her wins (13) at Scioto Downs.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.