Father Ofthe Year claimed victory in the feature class at Exhibition Park Raceway on Saturday afternoon (June 11).
Heading to the gate as a 1-9 favourite, the nine-year-old gelding was steered to victory by Michael Downey. Off the gate, Woodmere Ideal Art (Kyle Mason) soared to the front ahead of Ubettimagoodone (Todd Trites). Gapped out by about two lengths followed Father Ofthe Year with Frontier Cruise (John Davidson, Sr.) and Bugger Max (Mark Haig) as the two trailers.
After a :28.1 first quarter, Downey pulled Father Ofthe Year first up heading to challenge Woodmere Ideal Art for the front in a :58.2 second quarter. In the straight away, Downey successfully overtook the lead for a 1:28.3 third quarter. Surging forward, Downey and Father Ofthe Year widened the gap between themselves and the rest of the pack, clocking a 2:00 mile time across the wire. Woodmere Ideal Art and Frontier Cruise rounded out the top three finishers.
Ellen Stevenson trains the Royal Mattjesty gelding, who has won two of his last five starts. Victory in the $2,500 Winners Over class marked win number 19 of 52 starts lifetime, lifting career money earnings to $44,562.
The favourite paid $2.30 to win.
To view Saturday’s harness racing results, click on the link: Saturday Results – Exhibition Park Raceway.
To view the Race 5 replay from Saturday’s card, click on the link below: