Trotter Four Starz Speed and pacer Windsun Stetson were the winning favourites in Sunday night's (April 10) co-features at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Four Starz Speed earned the sixth win of his 11-year-old campaign in the $6,650 Winners Over Handicap Trot for trainer Sebastien Giroux and co-owner Richard Dinelle.
Driven by Pierre Desjardins, the Conway Hall gelding took the lead from post two off the gate and carved out fractions of :28.3, 1:00.2 and 1:29 en route to the 1:59.2 victory as the 8-5 bettors' choice. Michelangelo (Richard Simard), parked from the start, finished two lengths behind in second while Heres The Magic (Gord Brown) came on for third.
Four Starz Speed has now won half of his 12 starts this year, including his last two in a row, for seasonal earnings of $23,394. The 38-time career winner has banked just over $760,000 lifetime.
In the $6,800 Winners Over Handicap Pace, the four-year-old Chelsea Knapp-trained Windsun Stetson was a front-stepping winner for the first time this year.
The Mach Three gelding was defeated by just half a length last Sunday by Slight Touch, but this time he quickly retook the lead from that rival after a contested (:27) opening quarter and never looked back. Ted McDonald guided Windsun Stetson through middle splits of :57 and 1:25.3 before the 7-5 favourite drew off by three lengths down the stretch to win in 1:54.3, just missing his lifetime mark by one-fifth of a second. Onyx V A (Louis-Philippe Roy) came on for second over Slight Touch (Guy Gagnon).
The win was Windsun Stetson's first in five outings this year and 13th lifetime, pushing his bankroll over $53,000. He is owned by 2099551 Ontario Inc.
In other action, Gerard Demers took over first-place in the track's 2016 trainer standings with a triple on Sunday's 10-race card, earning victories with Strokin ($2.60), Ive Got It All ($3.70) and Tim T ($3.40). Demers now has 21 victories at Rideau this year, giving him a one-win advantage over Jamie Copley on the local leaderboard. Guy Gagnon was the top-winning driver of the night steering all three of Demers' winners.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway.