Ladies From Hell and All My Lovin were the first feature-race winners of the meet at Grand River Raceway as the aged pacers won their respective $10,000 conditioned events during the track’s opening-day card on Wednesday, June 3.
Ladies From Hell was resolute on the engine as she won the optional-claiming contest for fillies and mares to bolster her stout seasonal record to seven-for-15. The classy 12-year-old cleared to control from post five in a flash for Garrett Rooney and ruled on a loose lead through :26.4 and :56.1 early panels. Santafes Appetite (Travis Cullen) vaulted out of third heading onto the backstretch and barrelled towards the leader, edging ahead nearing three-quarters in 1:24 and forcing the pacesetter into sprint mode.
The top two scrapped through the final turn with Talldarklatte (Brady Galliers) licking her lips from the pocket. She joined Santafes Appetite in dogging the leader home, but neither could crack Ladies From Hell who held on for a three-quarter-length score in 1:53.3. Talldarklatte took second over Santafes Appetite.
Ladies From Hell added another drop in the proverbial bucket of her career record as she took her 63rd win in 244 starts, raising her earnings to $405,093. The daughter of Classic Card Shark-Jennys Place is trained by Michael Sumner, who co-owns her with Shae Sumner of London, Ont. The win price was $6.10.
All My Lovin scored his second career win in Ontario with a dominant effort in a conditioned dash for horses and geldings. Paul MacKenzie marched the four-year-old out of post six to overpower Laser (Brady Galliers) and secure command in a :26.2 opener. All My Lovin cruised past the half in :56 before Ontario-sired Spring Series winner Letr Sink Son (Travis Henry) left the three-hole to challenge as they headed onto the backside. That foe wavered past three-quarters in 1:24, and there were no further threats to All My Lovin as the gelding opened up to a 3-1/4-length victory in a lifetime-best 1:52.3. Gansbaai (Mike Whelan) closed from seventh for second, followed by Boothill Hudy (Travis Cullen).
All My Lovin won two legs of the Atlantic Sires Stakes while racing in the Maritimes last year at three before he was shut down in July. The son of Malicious-Lovineveryminute resurfaced at Flamboro Downs in April for trainer Joe Pereira and owner Brian&Ira Wallach Racing of Closter, N.J. He is now two-for-six on the season and six-for-26 lifetime with $53,491 in earnings. He paid $6.30 to win.
Grand River will host racing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through to mid-September. Its annual signature event, Industry Day, is set for Aug. 3.
To view Wednesday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Wednesday Results - Grand River Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Ladies From Hell winning on June 3)