Life certainly was better in the $6,000 Preferred 3 feature race at Clinton on Sunday afternoon (June 18) as the seven-year-old homebred, Life Is Better, broke the 20-year-old track record for pacing stallions.
Ryan Desroche drove the Kenneth Mathieson trainee to a gate-to-wire victory in the feature. Laying down fractions of :27.2, :55.3 and 1:24.4, Life Is Better kept on moving to a 2-3/4-length victory in 1:54. Pembrook Legacy (Lorne House) finished second and Belechick (Travis Henry) was third. Life Is Better paid $11.20 to win.
The previous record was held by Judge Cam, set in August of 2003. Older pacing gelding Priceless Edition holds the overall track record of 1:53.
Life Is Better moved his career earnings to $140,752 with his 24th win. Mathieson co-owns the son of Betterthancheddar with Henry Banakiewicz.
In Pop-Up Claiming Series action, victories went to Sunseeker (Tyler Borth) in 2:00.2, Century Havana (Robert Jenkins) in 2:01.2 and Pennys Nour (Travis Henry) in 1:58.2.
Clinton minor ball held their trackside fundraiser this Father's Day and with the support of the incredible on-track crowd, raised more than $1,600 for their 2023 season.
Bettors put $51,800 through the mutuel windows on the 10-race afternoon card.
Live harness racing resumes Sunday, June 25 with a first post at 1:30 p.m. Clinton Raceway will host the annual Mayors Mingle for the Municipality of Central Huron as part of the day's festivities. A free meal will be served following the races with kids activities and prize draws taking place throughout the day.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Clinton Raceway.
(With files from Clinton Raceway)