Walkonthemoon showed impressive late fortitude to prevail off an arduous trip in the Preferred 3 Handicap Trot at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday, June 13, completing a triple for trainer Pam Forgie.
One of five horses with his nose on the gate in a nine-horse field, he slid back to fifth early and raced on the pylons through a :27.4 opener before Robert Doyle put him into play in front of the stands. No cover materialized for Walkonthemoon, so the stallion pressed on through the half in :58.3 and pulled alongside leader Leading Resolve (Alfie Carroll) passing three-quarters in 1:27.1. He lifted past the pacesetter as they raced into the last turn but was confronted by P C Peterbilt (Mark MacDonell), who was roaring up three-wide from fourth-over. P C Peterbilt bore down on the new leader, but Walkonthemoon finished sharply to hold him off by a head in a 1:57.1 score. Leading Resolve took third.
Walkonthemoon is three-for-three at Sarnia this season. He scored twice in upper-level conditioned events in recent weeks and now has a Preferred 3 score, moving him to three-for-10 this year for Forgie. The eight-year-old Archangel-Classic Belle stallion, owned by Triple S Equine of Newton, Ont., is now 21-for-152 lifetime with $331,578 in bankroll. He returned $3.30.
Forgie’s two prior wins on the 10-race program came with a dominant Just All Out ($4.10), whom she drove to a maiden-breaking victory in the third race, and Brydown Prime ($4.60), who scored by a head in the fourth at the hands of Doyle. With the triple, Forgie joins Melissa Loyer (who doubled on the day) and Darryl Laver (one win) in a three-way tie for the lead in the Hiawatha trainers’ standings. Following a career-best haul of 41 victories last year, she is 24-for-130 across all tracks in 2026.
Bayfield Beach took the two-hole route to victory in the $6,000 Preferred 3 Handicap Pace. He was the second to the front in a procession of early leaders as he went by Come On Artie (David Edwards) before giving up control to Docsphillycheese (Garrett Rooney). That rival was never pressured as he set the tempo through :27, :56.1 and 1:24.4 fractions while giving Bayfield Beach the garden trip. Bayfield Beach then converted on that ideal journey, splitting off the cones at the bottom of the last turn and muscling by the pacesetter in the stretch for a half-length victory in 1:54.1. Wills Watchin (Robert Doyle) finished third.
Bayfield Beach, who had a one-for-20 seasonal record heading into Saturday's co-feature, won his first career start at Sarnia as he returned to owner-trainer Melissa Loyer. After claiming him for $14,000 in April and losing him for the same amount on May 10, she re-claimed the eight-year-old for $12,000 on May 31 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Db Blue Chip was making his first start back in the Loyer barn as he improved to 29-for-215 lifetime and raised his earnings to $643,737. He paid $4.90 to win.
To view Saturday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Walkonthemoon winning on May 23)