When an owner decides to move his horse from a popular North American leading trainer to a popular local leading trainer, he really doesn't expect an improvement in his horses' performance, but that is exactly what happened with Derby Dale.
The three-year-old gelded son of Rock N Roll Heaven-Lola Palooza was moved from Ron Burke's stable to the Essex shedrow of Gord McDonnell. On Sunday, Derby Dale set a new track record of 1:55.3 at Leamington Raceway with Nick Steward in the sulky. Bred and owned by Dale Towle of Leamington, Derby Dale's margin of victory was 13-3/4 lengths looking every bit like Donald Trump running away from his Republican competitors.
Steward improved on last week's five-win performance by steering six winners on the 10-race card, including McDonnell's Arlo Gram in partnership with Vince Orlando of Leamington and T R Lexus Cam for Windsor's George Robinson. He also set divisional track records with Leon Mansfield's two-year-old pacing colt Isitfridayyet (2:00.2), and aged pacing mare Chantilly Rose (1:57.3) for trainer William Brown and owner Randy Zhok. Steward also won a most impressive race with Leona Morrissey's Grenade Seelster in 1:59.2, a three-year-old colt record. The Dan Morrissey trainee won by 23 lengths.
Oldfriendskentucky made it two in a row at Leamington Raceway winning the Randy Kerr Memorial. With Tyler Borth in the bike, this week's wire-to-wire trip in 1:57.4 was a lot easier than last when he was parked the entire mile. The son of Whossurboy-Patties Fame is trained by Stephen Roberts for Horsewhispererusa Stable of Windsor.
The race honoured Randy Kerr, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 51 to cancer. Kerr was one of the most popular drivers on the Windsor circuit. Always a smile on his face whenever you encountered him, he won 3,673 races and over $15 million in purses.
He is survived by his wife Cindy, and their three daughters, Julie (husband Steve, grandson Hayden), Lindsey and Ashley, as well as brother Terry and sister Pam (Payne), and mother Shirley.
Racing continues next Sunday with post time scheduled at 1:30 p.m.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.
(With files from LHRA)