Entering off a victory in Rideau Carlton's top class just five days ago, R Royal Port set sail for Grand River where he delivered yet another victory in the $11,000 Preferred 2 Trot on Monday, July 7.
Leaving from post two with Daryl Thiessen in the bike, R Royal Port left alertly before settling in the pocket behind Southwind Domino (Jason Ryan) through a quarter of :27.4. The tempo slowed to the half in :58 when R Royal Port ripped out of the pocket on the backstretch, trotting to the lead at three-quarters in 1:26.1.
Market Banker (Chris Christoforou) powered alongside R Royal Port on the final turn while Southwind Domino jumped it off from in third. R Royal Port raced gamely on the lead, fending off the pressure of a now two-pronged attack with Market Banker still applying pressure on the outside and Johnny Buckshot (Garrett Rooney) rallying to his inside. R Royal Port held them both at bay, reaching the wire first by a half-length in 1:55.1 over Johnny Buckshot and Market Banker respectively.
The Gerard Demers trainee has won three of his last four starts and five of 11 on the year for owner La Ferme Tag Inc. The six-year-old gelded son of Archangel-World Class Izzy is now a 20-time winner for his career, with lifetime earnings of $204,255. R Royal Port paid $4.40 to win.
In addition to the Preferred Trot, a pair of $8,000 Prospect Series divisions were contested for both the two-year-old pacing colts and fillies on the Monday card.
EA Hazel (Stuart Sowerby, $4.90) took the first division for pacing fillies in 1:57.1 while the second division went to the Demers-trained Drill Bit Penny (Samuel Fillion, $5.30) in 1:57.
The Dr. Ian Moore-trained Whatsintheshadows (Paul Mackenzie, $6.30) took the first split for pacing colts in 1:58.4 while Starbright Dancer (Daryl Thiessen, $16.10) took the second in 1:58 for trainer Rod Boyd.
To view Monday's harness racing results, click the following link: Monday Results - Grand River Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)