With a three-wide brush around the final bend, P C Firecracker kicked home to notch his third consecutive victory on Wednesday evening at Western Fair Raceway in the featured $13,200 Preferred Trot.
Indiana Hall (Scott Coulter) blasted to command from post four in the ninth race, but Tymal Colossus (Scott Wray) was on the move early and brushed up from third in an aggressive first quarter move. He cleared to command at the :28.2 mark.
As the new leader took the field to the half in :57.4, P C Firecracker and Curtis Clements moved underway from the backfield and picked up cover in the form of favourite Lexis D J (Doug McNair).
Lexis D J advanced first over from fourth and battled head-to-head with Tymal Colossus in a two-horse breakaway down the backstetch to the three-quarters in 1:27.1. But P C Firecracker kicked into high-gear and reeled in the top two before fanning three-wide around the final turn.
P C Firecracker gained the upper hand down the homestretch to score. Tymal Colossus finished half a length behind in second while Natural Forces (Skip Jay De Mull) tracked the winner's cover and came on for third. Lexis D J finished two lengths behind in fourth.
The four-year-old Amigo Hall gelding lowered his lifetime mark for the second straight week from 1:59.1 to 1:57.4.
The victory was the 10th lifetime for the trotter, who is trained, owned and bred by Peter Clements in partnership with Amy Clements, both of Dobbinton, Ont. Last year's City Of London Series champion boosted his bankroll to more than $82,000 with the win.
One race later, Zorgwijk Jock posted an impressive 1:56.3 victory to take the $8,400 Preferred 2 Trot and set a new record. The time of the mile shaved one-fifth of a second off the track record for older trotting stallions and came within just three-fifths of a second from the overall trot record, held by gelding Brawn Seelster.
Driven by Trevor Henry, the seven-year-old son of Southwind Lustre retook the lead past the :27.2 quarter and easily cruised through middle splits of :56.4 and 1:25.4 en route to the victory. Favourite Rainbow Gold (Dennis Duford) reeled in the winner down the lane, finishing one and three-quarter lengths behind, while Tale To Tell (Ross Battin) rounded out the top three finishers.
Zorgwijk Jock paid $6 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
The Richark Moreau trainee is owned by Gaar Racing Stables of Thornhill, Ont., Sylvain Descheneaux of Sorel-Tracy, Que., and Sean Hibbert of Corbyville, Ont. The win was his second in 14 seasonal starts and 15th lifetime, pushing his bankroll to over $215,000.
New Favorite (1:59.2), driven by Ryan Holliday for conditioner David Holliday, and the Lorne House-trained and driven Grogan (2:00.1) both delivered on their pari-mutuel promises and returned $5.30 to win in a pair of $5,600 Preferred 3 events earlier on the card.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.