John MacMillan trainees Talk Back and Riding With P were a dominant force in the preliminary legs of Russ Moulton Memorial Series at Rideau Carleton Raceway and the story was no different Sunday night in the $22,350 final
.
Fan favourite Talk Back, driven by Ted McDonald, front-stepped his way to a new mark of 1:56.2 ahead of stablemate Riding With P and Darrell Colville over the 'good' track rated one second slow.
Talk Back established the lead from Post 3 over Riding With P and fought off Sovereign Wealth and Thomas Dalborg past the :27.2 opening quarter mark. Talk Back reached the half in :56.3, but faced more pressure as third leg winner Atoka Millionaire and Stephane Brosseau went wide around the fading Sovereign Wealth and looked him in the eye at the 1:25.4 third quarter pole. The top two were noses a part entering the stretch, but Talk Back fought back and gained the upper hand near the wire. Riding With P was a pylon-skimming second a half-length behind, just edging out Atoka Millionaire.
Talk Back paid $3.80 to win and the MacMillan exactor returned $10.70.
Both stablemates won their first and second leg divisions and finished second in the third round. Talk Back, who went winless in three starts as a freshman, notched his seventh victory in 11 starts this year and pushed his earnings to $37,163 lifetime. MacMillan co-owns the Tell All-Dolphins Can Talk gelding with Pam Perrin of Spencerville, Ont. Meanwhile, Riding With P has earned six wins and six seconds in 12 sophomore starts after going winless in eight at two. The Lis Mara-Caviart Cameron gelding has banked $48,928 to date for owner Edward Gorc of Sudbury, Ont.
The pacing series was for horses and geldings that are non-winners of $15,000 lifetime by the end of the 2011 campaign.
MacMillan sent out a total of four winners on the 15-race card while Rene Allard and Jamie Copley each scored three training wins.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway.