Mother Hen and local horseman Mike Sumner held off a from-last Thatll Be Franny for a gate-to-wire score in Tuesday's featured $7,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred 3 Pace at Western Fair Raceway.
Second choice Mother Hen ($7.70) grabbed the lead from post one in the evening's featured fourth race and rebuffed a quarter-pole challenge from the favourites, Insincerity and Scott Coulter, leaving them parked the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Mother Hen pressed on and prevailed by a quarter-length in 1:57.3 over Thatll Be Franny, who closed wide from the back of the pack with Nick Steward aboard. Romantic Fever and Billy Davis Jr. followed two lengths behind in third. Longshots Little Brown Mug and Trevor Henry were fourth with Insincerity fading to fifth.
The seven-year-old Banner Yankee mare earned her second win in 12 starts this year and ninth lifetime, pushing her bankroll to $119,636.
Meanwhile, Western Fair's 2013 win leader Trevor Henry made strides in closing the gap between himself and current chart-topper Alfie Carroll by driving five winners on the 11-race card.
He earned victories with Sharelife ($5.50), Just One More ($2.40), Mattjestic Light ($8.40), Abs To Envy ($6) and Distinctiv Dreamer ($10.20).
Henry now has 59 wins at the London, Ont. oval this year while Carroll boasts 84. The pair were tied atop the Canadian leaderboard Sunday, with Henry taking over the top spot with a total of nine wins in the last two days.
To view Tuesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Tuesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.