Rise Up Now was victorious in his Georgian Downs debut, wiring the field in the $11,000 Preferred 2 Pace on Sunday night (June 5) for catch-driver Alfie Carroll.
With the inside post advantage, 9-5 favourite Rise Up Now forced the rest of the field to line up behind him through a :27.3 first quarter over the "good" track and then cruised through subsequent fractions in :56.2 and 1:24.2 with a commanding lead en route to the one and a half length victory in 1:54.4. Newbie (Robert Shepherd), who followed in fourth-place throughout, rallied out and around the first over Read The Proposal (Paul Davies) in the stretch to secure the runner-up role.
Richard Moreau trains the four-year-old Somebeachsomewhere-Northwestern gelding, who entered the race off a third-place finish in the Preferred 2 at Western Fair Raceway and previously competed on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit. Rise Up Now earned his second win from 17 starts this year and a has banked $37,280 for owner Brad Grant.
In the $7,500 Preferred 3, Gary Rivest's pacer Two Of Clubs and driver Scott Young held off the late-surging favourite, Joshua My Boy (Carroll), by a head in 1:55 flat.
The Alliance Spring Series also continued on Sunday with the first leg for $6,000 claiming trotters. The filly and mare events were won by Emmalulu (Carroll), Crystal Girl (Luc Ouellette), and Wilma C (Kelly Sheppard), while Unicum Bi (Per Henriksen) and Mr Montgomery (Doug Brown) each took a division of the series for horses and geldings.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Georgian Downs.