Seawind Gambler pulled off a mild upset in Sudbury Downs' Saturday night feature – the $11,000 Preferred
Pace.
Trained and driven to victory by Allan Hohner, the six-year-old Astreos-Hey Girl gelding left from Post 1 and settled in the two-hole behind Jersey Dan (Mike MacNeill). Jersey Dan led the single-file field through intervals of :27.2, :57 and 1:26.3 before Seawind Gambler popped the pocket in the stretch and reached up for the lead. From the backfield, Round About Fame (Justin Turcotte) made a late charge, but Seawind Gambler found the wire just in time to win by a quarter-length in 1:56.1 over Round About Fame and Jersey Dan.
Owned by David Haney of Waterloo and Lawrence Smith of Elmira, Ont., Seawind Gambler scored his fourth win in 17 tries this year good for $27,822. The 15-time winner has banked a grand total of $193,876 in his career.
Four $6,500 Baby To Boomer Series first divisions were also contested on Saturday.
Auditorial made a three-wide move at the third-quarter mark and came on to win by a neck over the pacesetter and favourite, Sheer (Jay Polifroni), in 1:58.2. There Paid For (Rick Baker) was third. Trainer Mario Rivest did the driving for owners Kari Rivest and Richard Pancel of Hanmer, Ont. Unraced a two, the three-year-old Artsplace gelding’s notched his second win in three outings.
Driven by Paul MacLean, Doc Beatz Em All did just that winning in 2:00.4 off a pocket trip for trainer France MacLean. So Fancy (Gerry Belanger) finished a length back in second with the pacesetter and favourite, Emerald Jaguar (Mike Dowling), rounding out the top three. Also unraced as a freshman, the three-year-old Astreos gelding in now two-for-two in his career.
With Gerry Belanger at the lines, Noble Romeo made a quarter pole move and front-stepped his way to victory in 2:01.3. Elite Force (Robert Coursol) came on to finish a quarter-length back in second while Yogi Du Ruisseau (Pat Barr) rallied from the back of the pack to finish third. The five-year-old Intrepid Seelster gelding won for the second time in 10 career starts for trainer James Stewart and owner Cher Beaudin of Gore Bay, Ont.
The third division was marred by an accident when Easy Livin Smarty, trained and driven by Gerard Lamoureux, made a break and fell at the start of the race. No other horses were affected in the incident. Lamoureux did book off the remainder of his drives, but Ken Le Drew, General Manager of Sudbury Downs, confirmed that both horse a driver are okay.
The final series division went to Milliondollar Moms, who rallied off second-over cover to win in 2:01.2 for trainer, driver and owner Kim Pluta. Favourite Chansky (Allan Hohner), who was seventh at the top of the stretch, finished second and Im Laagin It (Paul MacLean) was third. The Million Dollar Cam filly broke her maiden with the victory.
To view Saturday's results, click here.