Sunny skies greeted fans and participants at The Loop on Saturday, July 6 for the Manitoba half-mile oval's first card of harness racing this season.
There were six dashes on Saturday in Winnipeg, with the track listed as 'good' and judges applying a two-second variant.
Six pacers headed postward in the $4,800 Open Pace, with a couple of new names being added into the provincial mix to start the season. Armycaptin Hanover, a familiar name in the top classes at tracks in Alberta and British Columbia over the past few seasons, drew the outermost post six for his Manitoba debut.
One Last Bet had marching orders from driver Blake Piwniuk from post three and carved out fractions of :30.1, 1:01.3 and 1:32.1 on the front end mostly unbothered. Chazmichaelmichael (Richard Remillard) started a first-over attack approaching the third station, with Armycaptin Hanover (Michel Rey) following that cover loosely around the far turn. Even at the head of the lane, Armycaptin Hanover looked too far out of it to close seriously through a half-mile stretch. But the pacer found another gear when asked and exploded in deep stretch to get up by a quarter of a length for the 2:02.4 score. One Last Bet and Chazmichaelmichael finished second and third, respectively, with the top three finishers separated by less than a length.
Richard Rey trains Armycaptin Hanover (Captaintreacherous - Allamerican Coed) for owner Laverne Turnbull of Kitchener, Ont. The eight-year-old pacer picked up his seventh win of the season and 43rd lifetime, lifting his earnings to $322,301. One of five horses on the card to upset the public choice, Armycaptin Hanover returned $5.30 to win.
The Loop's harness racing meet will continue next Saturday, July 13 and run through Oct. 5, with the bulk of race dates on Saturdays in August and September. Click here to view the complete race date schedule.
For results from the Saturday card of harness racing in Manitoba, click the following link: Saturday Results - The Loop.
(Standardbred Canada)