Hot Fudge Sundae prevailed in a Dresden Raceway duel with rival Monteverdi to win the $5,200 Preferred 3 Trot on Sunday afternoon, July 7.
Monteverdi and driver Nick Steward fired off the gate from post three in Dresden's featured trot, but Alfie Carroll had other ideas and kept on rolling with the favoured Hot Fudge Sundae from post five as those two battled for the top spot through a :28 opening quarter well in front of the rest of the field. Hot Fudge Sundae persisted and Monteverdi settled for the pocket trip as the trotters took the turn towards the grandstand to complete the first lap of the half-mile oval.
They raced 1-2 with Hot Fudge Sundae leading through a half in :58 and three-quarters in 1:28.2 before a Monteverdi took another shot in the final turn. Battling head-to-head again down the stretch, Hot Fudge Sundae fought off Monteverdi for the victory by half a length in 1:59.1. Lass Shot rounded out the top three finish order 1-3/4 lengths behind for Garrett Rooney.
Owned by trainer Angie Carroll and Mary Carroll of Iona, Ont., Hot Fudge Sundae has won two Preferred events at the Dresden meet and now has five victories from 22 seasonal starts. A career winner of 21 races, the seven-year-old Kadara-A Sundae On Sunday gelding has banked $141,446 in purses.
Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, Hot Fudge Sundae paid $3.40 to win.
Garrett Rooney led all drivers, winning half of the day's races. He swept the early Daily Double on the 10-race card with Kiss My Bet ($6.80) for trainer Jason Libby and Silverclayspecial ($2.50) for conditioner Doug Schweitzer. Rooney also drove Debt Motivated ($3.40), Journalistic ($4.20) and Trident Seelster ($2.20), a trio of winners for the Cameron McQueen stable.
After their successful Sunday showing, both Rooney and McQueen pulled out of a tie for the top spots in the driver and trainer standings. Rooney now leads all Dresden drivers with 19 wins and McQueen tops the trainers with 10 so far this season.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Dresden Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)