Commissioner Daley picked up where he left off in his rainy return to Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday night (July 9), winning the $6,500 Winners Over Handicap Trot for trainer/driver Guy Gagnon.
A winner the last time he raced at Rideau in the top trotting class on June 4, Commissioner Daley was recently out of town for a three-race stint at Hippodrome 3R where he had a pair of top-two finishes.
On Sunday night, Gagnon drove the six-year-old Conway Hall gelding to a four and a quarter-length victory in wire-to-wire fashion over the sloppy track (:28, :57.3, 1:26.3, 1:57.4), rebuffing the challenge of favourite Raising Richard and Darrell Coville along the way. Commissioner Daley paid $4.40 to win as the second wagering choice. Alacrity finished second in rein to Stephane Gendron and Jetcrest, driven by Robert Robinson, was third.
Commissioner Daley is owned by Ecuries Guy Gagnon Inc., Gestion Louis Latulippe Inc., and Gestion Bruno Blouin Inc. He now has six wins and $27,756 in earnings from 15 races this year.
In the co-featured $6,950 Winners Over Handicap Pace, Mickey Hanover overcame his outside post eight assignment in his Rideau debut by blasting across the track to take command. He led from start to finish (:26.3, :55.4, 1:24.1, 1:52.3) for driver Richard Simard, winning by two lengths over Nobettorplacetobe and Guy Gagnon. Beach Runner A M finished back in third in rein to Jonathan Lachance. The win payout was $4.70.
Michel Allard trains the nine-year-old son of The Panderosa for Allard Racing Inc., Yves Sarrazin of La Presentation, Que., and Daniel Dube of Millstone, New Jersey. The win was Mickey Hanover's third in 11 seasonal starts and pushed his annual income to $30,675. Lifetime, he has won 45 races and nearly $558,000 in purses.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway.