Last year's leading trainer at Clinton Raceway, Patrick Bissett enjoyed a productive Sunday afternoon on Aug. 17 at Clinton Raceway, with winning performances from three of his trainees propelling him back to the top of the local standings.
Bissett sent out a pair of winning brothers owned and bred by Hanover's William Brown, as four-year-old pacing gelding Mels Legacy ($3.10) collared pacesetter This Girl Rules in a 1:57.4 mile to kick off the 10-race program and lightly raced five-year-old Outlaw Jesse James ($10) held off Pouncing Panther by half a length in a 2:03.1 maiden-breaking mile mid-card. The brothers are by Big Jim out of the Mach Three mare, Mach Denali.
In the third race, Bissett-trained three-year-old pacing fillies Larjon Lilly ($5.60) and Phosphorus finished just heads apart in a 2:00.1 mile, with the winner owned by Larry Lane of Goderich, Ont.
Lorne House drove all three winners from the Bissett barn.
Bissett's Sunday training triple pushed his seasonal win count to eight at the Clinton oval, taking over the top spot from six-time winner Lindsey Kerr, with Riley Simpson moving into a tie for second-place. The Goderich, Ont. horseman now has 36 victories overall this year and 250 lifetime.
Two-year-old Prospect Series trotters invaded Clinton on Sunday for a pair of $8,000 divisions, with Lifting Legend and DA Miracle Maker taking top honours.
Lifting Legend ($4.50), the 6-5 favourite, won the colt and gelding division in 2:05.2 with catch-driver Damian MacLelllan working out a perfect pocket trip for the Dominic Gladu trainee, who defeated race leader Brydgie (Lorne House) and Northern Genius (Travis Henry) by three lengths. The Muscle Mass-Celebrity Angel has hit the board in all three of his Prospect starts and is now two-for-six lifetime for owner Thestable Lifting Legend.
Trainer Eli Wagner's DA Miracle Maker ($12.30) scored a 2:06.3 maiden-breaking victory in the filly division with Andy Moore catch-driving the Alarm Detector-DA Miracle filly, who had raced just 24 hours prior at Hanover Raceway finishing fifth in the Balanced Image Trot eliminations. Once the favoured front-runner Look A Diamond (Nick Steward) broke stride at the top of the stretch, the race came down to her closest pursuers, LMC Chipnchocolate (Pat Hudon) and DA Miracle Maker, with the latter filly getting up in a head decision for her first win in six lifetime starts. Look A Diamond regained her composure in deep stretch to take third.
The next Prospect Series leg for the two-year-old trotters is scheduled for Aug. 26 at Georgian Downs.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Clinton Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Larjon Lilly winning on Aug. 17)