Garrett Rooney was nearly unstoppable on Sunday, July 21 at Dresden Raceway, driving seven winners in the eight races he drove in on the 10-race card, including four for trainer Cameron McQueen.
The first of six consecutive wins on the card for Rooney came aboard the McQueen-trained Dusty Lane Morgan against $8,000 claiming company in the second race. Sent off as the 1-9 favourite, Rooney settled Dusty Lane Morgan in third before brushing to the lead at the half. From there, the favourite looked the part as Dusty Lane Morgan marched to a 4-1/4-length victory in 2:00 over Miramichi David (Andy Moore). The victory was the third on the season in 27 starts and 10th in the career of the six-year-old son of Ameripan Gigolo owned by D T O Racing.
Rooney teamed up with trainer Greg Price to win the next two races on the card with Style Snapshot and Wrap And A Hooey before reuniting with McQueen in fifth aboard Big Mach N. The 1-9 bettors' choice went to the lead from the start and never looked back as he cruised to a five-length victory in 1:57 over The Devil You Know (Robert Doyle). The victory was the second consecutive against $8,000 claimers at Dresden and the 40th lifetime victory for the 11-year-old son of Mach Three-Outback Girl.
Driving with confidence, Rooney won on the front-end in the sixth race with Sweet Cheeseus for trainer Kathryn Cochrane before taking the reigns once more for McQueen in the seventh aboard heavily favoured Journalistic (pictured above). After being parked to a quarter in :28.4, Rooney and Journalistic remained loose on the lead before coasting to a 1:57.4, 1-1/4 length victory over Belechick (Donald Rankin). Since coming to Dresden on June 23, the seven-year-old son of Sportswriter-Enchanted Beauty has reeled off five consecutive victories for the Rooney/McQueen combo and is a 12-time winner in 29 outings this year.
The only thing that could slow Rooney down was not having drives in the eighth and ninth races, but proved he didn't cool off any on the bench as he won the finale with the McQueen-trained Something Royal. This time Rooney changed tactics, settling sixth before navigating traffic up the pylons to prevail in a three-horse photograph and win by a head over the pacesetting Azucar Pipedream (Nick Steward). Now a winner of 10 of 28 this season, including two straight, the nine-year-old mare has banked $25,916 this year for McQueen, who co-owns with Paige Vandeelpiepers.
The feature of the card was in the $5,200 Preferred 3 Handicap Trot, which served as the ninth race. Hot Fudge Sundae and driver Alfie Carroll delivered as the even-money choice in front-stepping fashion. After clearing from post three in the field of five, Carroll hustled Hot Fudge Sunday to the lead through a quarter of :29.4. Left alone on top to the half in 1:00.1, Hot Fudge Sundae braced for a first-over challenge from Shouldaknownbetter (Anthony Hamlin) at three-quarters in 1:31. Turning away the pressure, Hot Fudge Sunday kicked away to a three-length victory in 2:00 over pocket-sitter Zack To The Max (Andy Moore).
Trained by Angela Carroll, who co-owns along with Mary Carroll, Hot Fudge Sundae is now a winner of six of 24 this season. The seven-year-old gelded son of Kadabra-A Sundae On Sunday has banked $144,462 lifetime following his 22nd career victory.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Dresden Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)