Maritime Breeders Stakes champion Rotten Ronnie made his four-year-old debut a winning one on Sunday afternoon (June 5) as he dominated the top pacers at Inverness Raceway.
Driven and co-owned by Redmond Doucet, the 1-4 favourite used the inside post to his advantage debuting in the featured $1,700 Winners Over Pace and came away with the lead in the turn as the class-climbing Betterthanbutter (Zach Mullins), firing off the gate from mid-field, settled into the pocket spot ahead of Eastcoast Invader (Doug MacQuarrie).
After a :28.3 bullet, Rotten Ronnie stole a second quarter breather to the half in :58.3 with no movement from the rest of the field until the backstretch when he began to pull away.
Intended Royalty (Don Gillis Jr.), winner of the top class during Inverness Raceway's season opener last Sunday, advanced into second with Thunder Alley (Campbell MacIsaac) hot on his heels from the backfield as they passed three-quarters in 1:28.1, but Rotten Ronnie was long gone. He opened up 8-3/4 lengths down the stretch en route to victory in 1:57.1. Intended Royalty won the race for place over Thunder Alley.
Rotten Ronnie, a son of Malicious out of Victory Cry, notched his 10th career win from 29 starts and lifted his bankroll over $65,000 for trainer Lennan MacIsaac. Doucet shares ownership of the pacer, who turned in multiple track record performances during his first two seasons on track, with Andy Stewart.
Rotten Ronnie paid $2.70 to win.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Inverness Raceway.