It was a tough night at the office for some of the program's favourites Sunday, April 21 at MGM Northfield Park, with Trix And Stones and Mull Of Kintyre scoring upset victories in the $25,342 co-featured Opens.
In the Open Handicap Trot, Double Account (Aaron Merriman), Big Bad Caviar (Justin Irvine) and Joggingtothebank (Elliott Deaton) jostled for position into the first turn, with Double Account taking the lead entering the backstretch.
Favourite Joggingtothebank, who had been parked from the word 'go,' cleared Double Account past an opening quarter of :28.1. While Joggingtothebank got a :30 breather in the second panel, there was an onslaught of pursuers chasing as Trix And Stones (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), Docs Spirit (Chris Lems) and Bamboo (Anthony MacDonald) began a bid on the outside.
Into the backstretch for the final time, Deaton began to ask Joggingtothebank for a little more and the gelding responded, speeding to three-quarters in 1:26.4. Entering the far turn, Wrenn pulled the plugs on Trix And Stones and he found another gear, wearing down a gutsy Joggingtothebank in 1:56.1. Double Account was on to be third.
The win was the 32nd lifetime for the son of Trixton, who is owned by Schillaci Stables, Sam Bova Racing, John Manning and Matthew Todaro. The Jodi Schillaci trainee's career earnings jumped over the half-million dollar mark.
In the Open Pace, Liteningonthebeach (Aaron Merriman) tried to leave from mid-pack, but Bernie (Billy Davis Jr.) had something to say about that, speeding to the lead into the first turn. Parked through much of the first turn, Litningonthebeach was forced to take back behind The Real Way (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.), who didn't give him a hole entering the backstretch.
Local favourite Bernie got to the quarter in a taxing :26.2. There were no breathers, however, for the son of Big Jim as Nvrfearlloydishere (Tyler Angus) tipped to the outside, with Mull Of Kintyre (Justin Irvine) on his back second-over.
At the half in :55.4, Bernie continued to be strong on the lead as Nvrfearlloydishere got within 1-1/2 lengths of the lead. Into the backstretch, Irvine tipped Mull Of Kintyre three-wide, looking to clear rivals, but at three-quarters in 1:24.1, Bernie continued to lead the way.
Into the final turn, Nvrfearlloydishere couldn't sustain his first-over bid and began to backpedal with Mull Of Kintyre, who took dead aim at the leader. Through the stretch, Bernie was all heart and while he dug in, Mull Of Kintyre had something left in the tank, moving by Bernie in the stretch to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.
Owned by Melvin Fink and trained by Paul Holzman, the five-year-old by Well Said pushed his career earnings over $200,000 with his 22nd career win.
Live harness racing resumes on Tuesday, April 23, with a first post of 6 p.m., and the card features a Pick-4 (Race 2) carryover of $20,819.
(With files from Northfield Park)