A track record performance by Prospect Series winner Justine Ray put the exclamation point on a big day at Leamington Raceway for driver Garrett Rooney and trainer Francis Guillemette on Sunday, Aug. 24.
Justine Ray sped twice around the Leamington half-miler, winning an $8,000 division of the Prospect Series for Ontario-sired three-year-old pacing fillies in 1:56.4. The daughter of Shadow Play out of Woes Jet Filly knocked four-fifths of a second off the divisional track record that was set in 2018 by Intrepid Lady.
Picking up the catch-drive, Rooney guided the Guillemette-trained grey filly to the lead from post four in a :28.1 opening quarter and set middle splits of :58.1 and 1:26.4 en route to the 3-1/4-length record-setting win over Twin B Bodacious (David Edwards), with Solitary Dancer (Robert Doyle) the best of the rest a dozen lengths behind.
Coming off a 1:54.2 career-best victory in the Aug. 12 leg of the Prospect Series at Georgian Downs, Justine Ray was sent postward as the 1-9 favourite and paid $2.20 to win. She is now four-for-11 this year and has seven victories overall from 21 races with career earnings totalling $56,247 for owner Michel Letendre of Saint-Jude, Que.
Rooney won six of the day's 11 races, including five in a row and the last four in that stretch with Leamington newcomers from the Guillemette stable.
Rooney's first two wins were in rein to veteran pacers trained by William Leon, with Big Mach N ($11.80) scoring in the second race and Furiosa ($3.10), who started the reinsman's streak in race five.
Rooney and Guillemette swept the Prospect leg as The Magic Moment ($2.40) fronted the division for three-year-old male pacers in a 1:54.4 mile for owners Gestion A&A Belanger Inc. and Cynthia Cote Dupont. The Control The Moment-Wind River Cat gelding followed up a victory in the Aug. 2 leg at Hiawatha Horse Park with a 3-3/4-length score over Scratchin An Itch (Alex Lilley) and Wayne Stone (Natasha Day).
Guillemette's other Sunday winners were four-year-old pacing mare Bargain Bid ($3.30) and eight-year-old trotting gelding Run Like Hill ($2.90).
Rooney, Leamington's defending driving champion, has dominated the first three cards of the 2025 meet, winning a total of 15 races.
During the afternoon, the track honoured the late Marty Adler, the former voice of the Leamington and Windsor raceways with videos, photos and special tributes throughout the program.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)