Four-year-old millionaire pacer We Will See tackled some of the sport's top aged pacers to capture the fifth edition of the $500,000 Ben Franklin Pace at Harrah's Chester on Sunday afternoon
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Leaving alertly from the rail, Bettors Delight champion Bettor Sweet (Brian Sears) ripped through a :25.4 opening quarter with runner-up We Will See and driver Ron Pierce tucking into the pocket from Post 2, and elimination winner Aracache Hanover (Tim Tetrick) third, followed by the other elimination winner, outside starter Won The West (David Miller).
As World Champion Bettor Sweet led the way to the half in :54.2, triple millionaire Won The West moved underway from fourth with his stablemate, Molson Pace winner Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras), and defending Ben Franklin champion Vintage Master (Daniel Dube) following his cover.
Bettor Sweet hit three-quarters in 1:21.1 with Won The West looming on the outside, but only coming within three-quarters of a length of the leader. Bettor Sweet disposed of that rival in the stretch, but could not keep We Will See at bay. The son of Western Hanover-Aberdakara shot up the rail to prevail in 1:48.4, equalling his lifetime mark. Bettors Sweet finished three-quarters of a length behind in second with Aracache Hanover third.
“His first three steps onto the track, I knew this horse was good today,” Pierce told Harness Racing Communications. “When I scored him down I knew he was good.
“It couldn’t have worked out any better. We had a great horse inside of us [Bettor Sweet] that could leave fast and luckily for me nobody on the outside left hard, or they could have gotten between me and him. As it turned out, I just sat on his back and followed Bettor Sweet until the passing lane. I came up the passing lane and got by them.”
We Will See, a runner-up in his elimination to Aracache Hanover, paid $7.80 to win as the 7-2 favourite in the closely matched betting field. He now boasts four wins and three thirds in 11 seasonal starts with earnings totalling $414,550 for trainer Sam DePinto. Shannon DePinto of Cream Ridge, Earl Smith of Millstone, New Jersey and Jerry Silva of Long Beach, New York share ownership of the $1.29 million earner.
“Sammy DePinto has done a great job with this horse,” added Pierce. “He’s just flawless. He knows his job and he knows how to do it.”