It was a night of showers which made the track at Cornerstone Raceway slow, but they still managed to get off the eight-race card Friday night.
Veteran driver Richard Remillard said a wet track makes racing tougher, but he still managed a pair of wins.
"Strategy goes out the window," he said. "You're just trying to get off the track and be safe."
Remillard said you have to approach a wet track differently.
"You try to rate things a little differently. You sit back a little bit," he said, adding the rail is not always the advantage it usually is in the mud once a few races have gone by. "...Sometimes it's a bit better off the rail a little bit."
His big win of the night was the Pace for the Lilies, paced in memory of long-time area horseman Frank Halliday and sponsored by Dr. Ken Wood and family. Remillard won the race with Barona Fivehundred over Dean Rey and Crush On Clinton and Anthony Williams with Red Star Egyptian.
Remillard said the wet track did not seem to bother the eight-year-old gelding.
"He's pretty sure-footed. Young horses might not have experienced this. Old horses like him are pretty solid," he said.
It helped, too, Remillard knew the horse.
"I had him last year [as trainer], so I kind of knew the horse," he said, adding he knew 'Barona' liked being out front. "...He loves the front end. Once he gets to the front he's pretty tough...He's a fairly classy horse."
Remillard had started the night with a race one win with 11-year-old Winwood Thunder.
"He's kind of a classy horse too," said the driver, who said getting a win on a steady old horse like Winwood Thunder helped make being soaked and cold through the entire card a little more bearable.
In the Done-Rite Auto Body race Kevin Siever went to the winner's circle with Kalahari Cajun over Brian Gray with The Missing Sock and Glenn LeDrew with Rain Gauge.
The night's seventh race was the Yorkton Business Improvement District race topped by Edward Tracey with Skittles N Beer over brother Donald Tracey with Camaction and LeDrew with KG Mattmerlin.
Friday's qualifying session was cancelled due to the rain.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Yorkton Raceway.
(Trot Insider exclusive by Calvin Daniels)