If there was a fitting winner of this year's edition of The Maritimer, on paper it would be the East Coast-loving three-year-old pacing filly Miss Wicked.
The daughter of McWicked - Deviliciously Good made every call a winning one on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Connell Park Raceway in Woodstock, N.B., scoring handily by five lengths in 1:57 — a time that was just one fifth of a second off her lifetime mark and shaved two fifths of a second off the former track standard set in early August by Dusty Lane Dixie.
Mark Bradley engineered the winning effort in the $24,000 event, with Miss Wicked besting second best Fern Hill Indigo (Brodie MacPhee) while Starship Beauty (Mark Haig) held on for the show dough. The winner returned $8.10 on a $2 win ticket.
Joseph Baxter trains the homebred for Blaine Thibeau of Kensington, P.E.I. Miss Wicked now sports a 6-4-1 summary from 16 starts with $58,176 in earnings. Of those 16 starts, 12 have come in Atlantic Canada and four were at tracks in Ontario. Her best finish in Ontario was a fifth. Her worst finish in the Maritimes has been a fourth.
Press Time ($3.30) maintained his sharp form, handily repeating in the $2,500 Winner Over Pace for his fourth consecutive local top class tally. Todd Trites handled the driving duties for trainer Averil Hunter and owner Zachary Cougle of Woodstock, N.B. Watchmaker (Mitchell Downey) chased but could only watch as Press Time finished on deadline four lengths the best, with Mantario (MacPhee) rounding out the top three.
The card started with a first in the first. Summer Vibes ($8.50) and driver Wayne Watson wore down Jack Tar Moxie (Norris Rogers) for the 2:02.2 victory. It was the first win for the two-year-old daughter of Lazarus - Ideal Tan, and it marked the first career training victory for the filly's owner, Catherine Davies of Wakefield, N.B.
For the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing in New Brunswick, click the following link: Saturday Results - Connell Park Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)