The trotting stars of the Atlantic Sires Stakes, sponsored by Meridian Farms, faced off in their final leg of the regular season on Wednesday night at Inverness Raceway, and once again, the division leaders stole the spotlight.
Joseph Smallwood's undefeated trotter High Bid set a 2:05.1 track record for two-year-olds during the quartet of stakes events. High Bid is now five-for-five to start his career, with four of those wins against Atlantic Sires Stakes competition.
With Walter Cheverie driving, the Neal gelding followed Time Warp through fractions of :32.2, 1:03.1 and 1:35.1 before overtaking that foe in the stretch to win the first of two $9,060 divisions for the two-year-olds by three-quarters of a length. Da Master was the best of the rest, finishing two and a half lengths behind in third.
The second division for freshmen was won by John and Barbara Breau's homebred gelding Cardigan Jack, who took the lead in the first turn when insider Weddingbell Ridge broke stride. Catch-driven by Marc Campbell for trainer Paul Morrison, the son of Nikes Image led through panels of :32.4, 1:04.4 and 1:36.4 en route to the 2:06.3 maiden-breaking victory. Craigh Na Dun went first up to finish second while third-place finisher Howmac Gypsy recovered from an early miscue and avoided My Monies On Me when that gelding broke stride out of the two-hole coming into the stretch.
The first of two $8,280 Atlantic Sires Stakes for three-year-olds pitted the division's co-leaders J K Blaze and Paymenowpaymelater against one another, with the former holding off the latter to complete a perfect four-for-four record in the preliminary legs and take the slight edge in the point standings. The Northern Bailey gelding's victory gave Cheverie and Smallwood a stakes double.
J K Blaze and Cheverie went wire-to-wire, leading through fractions of :32, 1:03.2 and 1:35 en route to the 2:03.4 triumph. Paymenowpaymelater, who suffered her first career loss in the Atlantic Sires Stakes program, overtook 2014 Atlantic Breeders Crown champion Tyne Valley for second-place -- both finishing less than one length behind the winner.
With a pair of early breakers in the second sophomore division, B J Matador was able to cross over to command easily from the outside post five and led the way through a :31.3 first quarter and 1:03.2 half. Jack Panting then pulled Sweetwater Rayne from the pocket and took over command past the 1:36.2 third quarter mark with Dusty Lane Jacob three-wide heading for home. However, Sweetwater Rayne managed to hold off Dusty Lane Jacob for the narrow score in 2:06.3. Suicide Shift caught the field after making a break at the start and finished third. Linda Austin owns and bred the double-gaited Largo filly while Ralph Annear handles the training duties.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Inverness Raceway.