Mark Headworth and Christopher Knecht's Quality Closer was a wire-to-wire winner in Saturday night's $10,800 Open Pace at Northville Downs.
Leaving the gate in a moderate 28 seconds to the opening quarter, Quality Closer then garnered a second quarter breather in just 30 seconds, tripping the beam to the half mile in :58. Driver Marc St. Louis Jr. took advantage of the easy fractions and then stepped on the gas pedal down the backstretch, clocking the three-quarters in 1:26.2, before finally closing it out for the victory by an expanding three lengths, stopping the timer in 1:55 flat, with a final quarter in :28.3.
Headworth trains Quality Closer, a 10-year-old Quality Western gelding who notched his 48th career victory and boosted his lifetime earnings to $479,119.
Meanwhile, St. Louis Jr. finished the weekend at Northville with a total of nine driving victories.
Live harness racing resumes at Northville Downs next Friday and Saturday (Sept. 23 and 24). Friday night offers dollar night with $1 pop, popcorn and live racing programs, and $2 hot dogs. Northville Downs races every Friday and Saturday night from now through Dec. 17.
(With files from Northville Downs)