Sent postward as the longest shot on the board at odds of 46-1 in the second leg of the Young Guns Series, Ardmore defied those odds and cruised wire-to-wire for the upset victory on Sunday afternoon at Sudbury Downs.
The four-year-old son of Jeremes Jet had the inside post advantage in his $8,500 division and cruised through fractions of :28.4, 1:00.1, and 1:30.4 en route to the 2:03.4 score over a muddy track rated four seconds off. The popular pocket-sitter, Ok Eros (Gerry Belanger), came within a quarter-length of the winner, but was set back to third for causing interference in the stretch to the third-placed-second Matts Delivery (David Dowling).
Trainer/driver Mario Rivest co-owns Ardmore with Richard Villeneuve of Val Caron, Ont. The win was the gelding's second in 11 seasonal starts.
The second division of the Young Guns Series was part of the final two races on the Sunday card that were cancelled due to the poor weather conditions.
Just prior to the cancellations through, Rivest steered 9-1 shot Mellow Jenny to a 10-length romp in 2:02.3 in the $4,500 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace for trainer Philippe Belanger and his partner Talbot Trail Racing Stables of Windsor, Ont. Deuces And Jacks edged out favourite Daddy Warbucks and Gerry Belanger for the neck victory in 2:01.1 in the $5,800 Preferred 2 Pace with trainer Paul MacLean driving for his partner Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Guelph-Eramosa, Ont.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Sudbury Downs.