Early discussion for horse of the year honours at Northside Downs would certainly involve pacing mare Elm Grove Ladyluck, who has risen the ranks to take on and defeat the best horses in the Cape Breton area.
On Saturday afternoon (June 30) the four-year-old once again showed her dominance with an open-length spanking in the $1,250 Winners Over Pace.
A field of five was set to contest but that number was whittled down to a field of four with the scratch of Ms Mac N Cheese, a top class pacing mare who was to make her local debut. With driver Ryan Campbell at the controls, Elm Grove Ladyluck got away in third as Burn Em Up Burr (Gerard Kennedy) confronted and cleared Im A Sumbunnie (Kevin Bailey) to take early command through fractions of :28.4 and :59. Campbell right-lined Elm Grove Ladyluck at the five-eighths mark to forge first-up and cleared without much of an argument from the pacesetter. The new leader opened up her lead with each stride, hitting the third station in 1:29.1 and then tacking on a :30.1 closer to trip the timer eight lengths the best in 1:59.2.
Burn Em Up Burr and Im A Sumbunnie filled out the best company.
Leonard McLellan trains Elm Grove Ladyluck (Coastocoast Yankee - Elm Grove Camlady) for owner Irwin Claener of New Waterford, N.S. This season's summary now stands at a solid 5-2-1 from eight starts. The win for Campbell was his fourth on the afternoon.
To view the charted results from Northside's Saturday card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.