Arizona made her Leamington Raceway debut one for the record books on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 10).
Trained by Mike Timpano, Arizona knocked one-fifth of a second off the track record for older pacing mares, winning the afternoon's third race in 1:56.1 in rein to Nick Steward.
Blasting off the gate from the far outside in a $4,400 fillies and mares conditioned/optional claiming pace, Arizona worked her way three-wide past rivals through a :27 opening quarter to take the lead from inside leaver Kinda Like Royalty. She then cruised through middle panels of :58 and 1:27.1 with a two-length advantage and extended that margin to 4-1/4 lengths in the stretch. Kinda Like Royalty chased in second while Faithfuls Nola went first-over to round out the top three.
The former divisional track record was held by Sports Icon, a 1:56.2 winner in September 2021.
Arizona, who won seven races in a row in the spring and has competed at five other Ontario racetracks this year, was the 1-5 favourite and paid $2.70 to win. The four-year-old Up The Credit-Jo And Marie mare collected her 12th victory of the season -- only two other pacing mares have more wins this season in North America -- and sent her lifetime earnings over the $100,000 mark for owners Wendy Warren Timpano of Campbellville, Ont. and Herman Bardoel of Ingersoll, Ont.
To view Sunday's complete harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Leamington Raceway.