Space Walk survived a first journey to win the $10,500 Preferred 2 Pace and give driver Doug McNair a grand slam on the 12-race card at Grand River Raceway
on Wednesday night while Its On My Tab established a new lifetime mark in the matching Preferred 2 Trot.
McNair teamed up with the Phil Coleman-trained Space Walk in the main pacing event and found a spot along the rail in fifth position after his Post 9 start.
Meanwhile, Three Cents (Luc Ouellette) crossed over from the middle of the track to lead the field to the first quarter in :27.2 before the 3-5 favourite, Ill Call U Back (Mark MacDonald), pulled the pocket and swept around his foe en route to the half in :56.2.
As Ill Call U Back made his move, McNair sent his charge first up and was head-to-head with the new leader at the third quarter station in 1:24.3. Although the favourite edged away in the stretch, Space Walk dug in and got up in time to score by a quarter-length in 1:54.1. Three Cents held for third.
Space Walk paid $5.00 to win as the 3-2 second choice. The five-year-old son of Dragon Again notched his fifth win in 17 starts this year pushing his earnings to $40,095 for owner David Lumsden of Ancaster, ON.
In the featured trot, Its On My Tab battled back against pressure from Chinnys Wing, a back-to-back winner in the class, and kicked away to score in 1:57.4.
Mark MacDonald sent the four-year-old gelding to the lead from Post 4 and raced past the first quarter in :28 before taking a :30-second breather with his nearest rival, the pocket-sitting Nobananas (Mike Whelan), over two lengths behind.
With Chinnys Wings advancing from sixth, Its On My Tab began to feel that pressure and momentarily gave up the lead as Chinnys Wings moved out in front at the three-quarters mark in 1:28.
Digging in with a :29.3 final frame, Its On My Tab re-took control in the stretch and tripped the timer in a career-best clocking with 1-1/2 lengths to spare. Connected Yankee (Paul MacKenzie) rounded out the top three.
Its On My Tab paid $9.30 to win as the 7-2 fourth choice. The son of Cantab Hall-Mackadamian, a winner of two races in 19 seasonal starts and $35,857, is trained by Herbert Holland for owner Kostas Diakoloukas of Brampton, ON.
To view Wednesday's results, click here.