Local media celebrity Erin Montgomery hauled down reigning champion Dave Landry in deep stretch to win Grand River Raceway's fourth annual Media Race on Friday night (June 23).
Each media personality was paired with a professional driver in a two-person jog cart for the half-mile exhibition contest prior to the evening's ninth race.
Montgomery, Morning Show Host of The Grand 101 FM, drove trotter Callie Magoo with pro reinsman Alfie Caroll to the victory after sweeping wide in the final turn and passing the reigning champions. The winning time for the half-mile dash was 1:04.
Award-winning equine photographer Landry and co-driver Bob McClure aboard Killean Sweep had led throughout the race with Kate Marentette, Community Cruiser Reporter of The Grand 101 FM, and Scott Young challenging on the backstretch in rein to New Favorite. Dave Hannah, Morning Show Host of 1460 CJOY, was also part of the media race line-up but his mount was a late scratch.
"That felt incredible!" said Montgomery in the winner's circle. "But I'd like to thank my driver Alfie, of course, and horse 'Callie', of course."
In a post-race interview, Montgomery revealed the winning strategy on advice of her co-driver: "He told me to keep my mouth closed and hang on tight!"
On the betting card, Willyorwonthe ($6.60) was a wire-to-wire winner in the $7,500 Preferred 3 Trot featuring Billings Series amateur drivers.
In his 2017 driving debut, Sherwin Edwards steered Willyorwonthe to tally his eighth career win in the sulky. The four-year-old Angus Hall-Mikestory gelding carved out fractions of :28.1, :58.1 and 1:28 en route to the one and three-quarter length score in 1:58.4. Lexis D J and Shane Arsenault followed in the pocket to finish second while the parked out 3-2 favourite Hldontghttoyurdrms and Natasha Day finished six lengths back in third.
For Willyorwonthe, the win was his sixth this year from 18 starts and 11th overall pushing his bankroll over $110,000 for owner, trainer and breeder Bill Megens.
Shane Arsenault was also a Billings Series winner in the following race for $6,500 claimers, driving 10-year-old pacing gelding Lulus Boy ($9.90) to a neck decision in 1:58.2. They held off Bet On Art and David Drew with Every Girls Desire and Ben Hollingsworth finishing two lengths back in third.
Arsenault notched his 128th career driving win, but first of the year.
Kyle Fellow trains Lulus Boy, a career earner of more than $235,000 who has won two of his last three starts, for owners Louie Sorella and Katie Gene Miller.
Earlier on the card, a group of freshmen made their career debuts in a $6,000 two-year-old pace, which ended in a photo finish between stablemates Mckinnon and Redwood Again for Amy and Anthony MacDonald's Thestable.ca.
McKinnon, who was driven by Anthony MacDonald, crossed to command from the outside post six and led the way through opening panels of :30 and 1:01.1 before being confronted by his favoured barn buddy Redwood Again, who advanced from fourth and edged ahead at three-quarters in 1:32.2 in rein to Ryan Holliday. The top pair fought down the lane, with McKinnon out-sprinting his stablemate in a :28.4 final quarter to prevail by a head at the wire in 2:01.2. Bob McIntosh trainees Bit Of Luck (Bob McClure) and On The Take (Alfie Carroll) finished third and fourth, respectively.
McKinnon was the 9-2 third choice in the wagering and paid $11.60 to win.
The Mcardle-Platinum Choice colt was a $20,000 yearling purchase from the 2016 Ohio Select Sale by Thestable McKinnon Group.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Grand River Raceway.