The day long rain didn’t help the attendance, but fortunately Mother Nature co-operated and made it safe for racing Saturday at Hanover Raceway.
The rain subsided around post time, and then the sun started peaking through the clouds as Hanover hosted 10 races on Chapman’s Ice Cream night.
Forty-four staff members enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffet and brought along prizes for racing fans including gift certificates for ice cream for a year.
On the track in the feature race, the Chapman’s Pace, Spaniard, trained and driven by Mark Etsell, used his rail advantage to grab the early lead past a quarter in :28.4 in the mud, and continued to lead past the half in :59.1 and the three-quarters in 1:30.2, but then he faded and was passed by most of the field in the stretch with Wawanosh Wave and driver Tom Smith coming out on top in 2:00.1 for owner Lema Chapple of Wingham.
The staff from Chapman’s came out for the winner’s circle picture
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In other racing highlights, first-year driver Natasha Day of Australia, picked up two wins a second and a third-place driving finish, giving her 11 wins on the season, one shy of Ryan Holliday of Mt. Forest.
Driving leader Brad Forward failed to get a win on the night, but still leads the overall standings with 27.
Hanover Raceway plays host to CKNX Night next Saturday as the staff from Blackburn Radio will come out for the night and will give one lucky race fan a 50’ High Definition TV courtesy of HDTV in Walkerton.
Post time next Saturday night is 7:15 p.m.
(Hanover Raceway)
To view results for Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results – Hanover Raceway.