Sjs Nitelife and Secret Weapon earned victories in their respective $15,000 Champions Pacing Series second leg divisions featured on Saturday night at Sudbury Downs
Sjs Nitelife and driver Paul MacLean sat fourth for most of the mile while favourite Bumblebee Road (Gerry Belanger) set the pace in the first split. Making the winning move, the son of Life Work-Enchanted City angled three-wide move around the parked out Lombo Skyrider A (Don Gillis, Jr.) at three-quarters and then sprinted home for the 1:55.2 triumph.
No Competition (David Dowling) finished two lengths behind in second over Bumblebee Road.
France MacLean trains the winner for owner Brenda Gauthier of Azilda, Ont. The victory was the five-year-old gelding's sixth of the year in 31 starts and 18th lifetime lifting his earnings to $135,336.
In the second division, first leg winners Ghost Hunter (Aaron Byron) and Deuces And Jacks (Paul MacLean) positioned themselves 1-2 while Secret Weapon and reinsman Gerry Belanger followed along in third. As the field headed to the three-quarters mark Secret Weapon moved first-up and powered home for the one-length victory in 1:56.
Northern Flight (Mario Rivest) and Rush Rules (David Dowling) came on for second and third.
Wayne Preszcator trains Secret Weapon, a seven-year-old son of Western Hanover-Falcons Secret, for owners Barbara Lehman and James Lehman of Waterloo and Robert Patterson of Caledon, Ont. The win was the gelding’s fourth in 17 tries this year and 25th overall pushing his bankroll to $316,655.
The third leg of the Champion Pacing Series featuring $15,000 divisions will take place next Saturday, October 3. while the $20,000 (added) final is scheduled for Saturday, October 10.
In the evening’s $11,000 Not Listed Preferred Trot, Speedy Desperado rallied from off the pace to earn a new mark of 1:58.1. Driven by Wayne MacLean, the nine-year-old altered son of Wesgate Crown-Cornelia Lobell used a :29-second final frame to secure a five length margin of victory over co-favourites Aforgottendynasty (Darryl Munro) and Lisas Encore (Pat Rouleau). The time of the mile was two-fifths of a second off Zorwijk Fortunate’s track record for aged trotters.
Philippe Belanger trains the winner of six races in 18 seasonal starts for Margaret Wilcox of Midland, Ont. Speedy Desperado’s 16th lifetime scored pushed his earnings to $130,902.
To view Saturday’s harness racing results, click here.