Bruce Richardson has done his share of winning at Hanover Raceway, but the card on Saturday, Aug. 23 will surely be cherished by the veteran horseman for years to come.
The main event on Saturday's card was the $40,000 Balanced Image Final for Ontario-sired two-year-old trotters, with Great Trickster providing the great treat for trainer-driver and co-owner Bruce Richardson.
It's no secret that young trotters can be prone to making breaks in stride. That was certainly the case in the Balanced Image final, with six of the eight trotters coming out of that race with an X on their lines. Great Trickster had his game face on from the trailing eight hole, minding his manners to deliver Richardson his first Balanced Image title.
Starting from the trailing post eight, Richardson and Great Trickster got away in third early as elim winners Toss Of The Dice (Trevor Henry) and Beau Knight (Travis Henry) comprised the top tandem through a :30.2 opening quarter. Before the half, Beau Knight blew up in the pocket but Travis quickly settled the rookie to trot back into contention just after the 1:02 half.
With a challenge looming, Toss Of The Dice ran offstride while on the lead allowing Beau Knight to inherit command. Great Trickster maintained his composure, with Richardson stickhandling his rookie around Toss Of The Dice to stay in second through the 1:32.1 third quarter. Great Trickster started his attack around the far turn, and trotted by Beau Knight in the stretch to win in 2:03.1. Arbella Hanover — the only other trotter not to make a break — closed well for driver Samuel Fillion to finish second by three parts of a length with Beau Knight rounding out the top trio.
Great Trickster is a two-year-old son of Trixton from the Muscle Mass mare Great Dane. Richardson co-owns the two-time winner with Joseph Coffey of Orangeville and Jason Castellan of Elora, Ont. The lion's share of the purse lifted the gelding's earnings to $47,050 from his seven seasonal starts.
Richardson also found the winner's circle in the $6,000 Lynn Wedow Memorial Trot with No One ($3.50), a 2:00.2 wire-to-wire winner he both trains and owns. The Lookslikeachpndale - Stormont Kate mare was 3-1/4 lengths better than Stonebridge Zeus.
On the engine was also the winning formula in the $10,000 Walker Memorial Invitation Trot as Chip Happened ($17.50) made every call a winning one in a 1:59.4 score for driver Daryl Thiessen, trainer and co-owner Jim McKague of Wroxter and co-owner Jan McKague Weishar of Teeswater, Ont. Mercutio (Travis Henry) finished two lengths back in second.
If the first star on the card would be awarded to Richardson, driver Samuel Fillion nearly finished in a dead heat for those honours after winning six dashes on the day. Fillion found his way to the winner's enclosure with Crazin Party Boy (2:02.1; $6.90) in the second race before rattling off a natural four-bagger — Rambaran Rose (2:01.1; $2.50) in the fifth, Sportsline (1:57; $4.20) in the $10,000 Gail Murray Invitation Pace in the sixth, Daffy Hanover (2:04.3; $2.70) in the seventh and Sake Bomb (2:00.3; $12.10) in the eighth. Fillion completed his six-pack in the finale courtesy Olaf Du Lac (2:01.2; $2.30).
Now with 230 wins on the season, Fillion sits third in the nation behind Austin Sorrie (252) and James MacDonald (245) in that category as of press time.
To view the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing in Hanover, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hanover Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)