Trainer Bob Young took a road trip to Grand River Raceway on Monday evening with his star student, Piece Of The Rock, and the gelding took advantage of the class relief and the scenery change by thumping the foes he faced in the Preferred #2 Pace.
With Robert Shepherd at the helm, Piece Of The Rock rolled to immediate command from Post 2, before giving way briefly to a backstretch brushing Wild Dragon. They swapped spots for a few strides at the quarter pole in :27.1 before Shepherd took the bull by the horns and moved the 1-5 favourite back to the engine.
Piece Of The Rock dictated the pace in the second quarter and had the field at his mercy at the mid-way point in :57.1. He turned on the jets in the third quarter, however, and as a result lit up timer at the three-quarter pole in 1:25. A :28.2 final frame was more than enough for the five-year-old gelding to seal the deal in 1:53.2. Wild Dragon was a distant second, with Button Up rounding out the top three finishers.
The son of Rocknroll Hanover-Paulas Promise improved his 2012 record to 4-1-1 in 15 starts while pushing his overall earnings to $534,147. Bob Young shares ownership on the 11-time winner with Jamie Trott, Brian Barton and Frank Aloise.
Trevor Henry had the hottest set of hands during Monday's 12-race card thanks to his six-win performance. The Arthur, ON horseman clicked didn't make his first trip to victory lane until a win in Race 5 with New Reigel Star (2:01.2), but once he got the first one the wins just kept on coming.
He picked up four consecutive wins starting in Race 7 with Rock Me Please (1:55.1). He added scores with Cavin Hanover (1:56.4) in Race 8, Acceptable Risk (1:54.1) in Race 9 and Gus Is All Lane (2:02.1) in Race 9 to complete the natural Grand Slam. He also took the checkered flag Beijing (1:56.3) in Race 12 to bring his nightly win total to six.
The career winner of 4,301 races and purses in excess of $27 million pushed this year's win total to 236 while his 2012 purse earnings climbed past $1.5 million.
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Grand River Raceway.