Seven-year-old pacing mare Exquisite Alberta stamped her name in the record books for the second time in less than two weeks – this time at Hanover Raceway
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The daughter of Albert Albert-Exquisite Killean, who equalled the 1:53.2 track record for aged pacing mares at Grand River Raceway two starts ago on June 8, set a new track record for the older gals at Hanover on Saturday night with a 1:55 effort in the $11,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred 2 Pace.
With Trevor Henry in the bike, Exquisite Alberta left from the outermost Post 5 and advanced to the top through fractions of :27.2, :57.1 and 1:26, eventually wearing down pacesetter Lady Terror (Bob McClure) in the stretch. The Wayne Preszcator pupil prevailed by one and a quarter lengths over Lady Terror while Mach Dismissal (Bruce Richardson) finished third off a pocket trip. The 1:55 winning time eclipsed the former track record for aged pacing mares, held by Whitesand Trick and Windsun Rachel, by one-fifth of a second.
Exquisite Alberta paid $4.80 to win as the popular choice in the five-horse field. Shawn Dixon of London, Ont. owns the bay, who has won five races in 22 starts this year while earning $41,565.
Another record was matched by first-time starter The Golden Child, who rallied home from third to win the opener in 2:01 flat, equalling the track record for two-year-old trotting colts, set by Im Classy in the Balanced Image Stake final in 2005. Trainer-driver Mark Estell co-owns and bred the son of Striking Sahbra-Vision Of Gold with Robert Newton of Walkerton and Bruce Newton and Neil Spahr of Wellesley, Ont.
Saturday’s card also featured a pair of $7,000 Saugeen Claiming Series divisions, which saw Our Cam Killean (1:59.4) and Franky B Skipalong (1:56.2) turn in a pair of winning efforts in their respective splits.
Molson Men’s night drew the largest crowd of the season with 1,100 people in attendance for the Father’s Day weekend celebrations. Molson donated close to $2,000 in prizes for fathers in attendance on Saturday night, including a golf outing for four at Cobble Beach, a leather jacket, two beer coolers and a barbecue.
Hanover features racing every Wednesday and Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Next Saturday, Hanover plays host to the Slots Cup Series, featuring three- and four-year-old pacers, who will try and break the track record set June 11 when Secret Weapon blitzed the mile in 1:53 flat.
For results from Saturday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Hanover Raceway.