Driver Brad Forward capped off a five-win performance during Hiawatha Horse Park’s 2010 season opener Satuday night with a wire-to-wire score in the $10,000 Preferred 2 Pace aboard Berts Casey
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In the ninth race feature, Forward sent the favoured Dean Nixon-trained gelding to the top from Post 3 and carved out stations of :27, :57.3 and 1:25.4 en route to a 1:54.2 score by 1-1/4 lengths. Ruff Stuff Jackson (Mark Pezzarello) rode the pocket to finish second while Bo Flex (Mark Williams), who was interfered with in the early going, finished back in third.
The victory was Berts Casey's third of the season out of 12 starts and pushed his winnings to $21,202 for owner-breeder Leo Racicot of Harrow, ON. The eight-year-old son of Albert Albert-L Dees Andrea sports 20 wins on his lifetime record and is only a few thousand dollars shy of reaching the $200,000 mark in earnings.
Forward won with the Nixon pupil Mcrileymac (1:54.2) one race earlier and also scored a natural hat trick beginning in the third race with Source Of Power (1:54.4) for trainer Travis Alexander, Stigma Seelster (1:55.3) for Rod Boyd and Du Faucon (1:57) for Stacey Vanraemdonck.
The resident of Woodstock, ON has won 169 races and $670,925 so far this season and currently sports a Udrs of .407.
To view Saturday’s results, click here.