While horseman Gregg McNair was busy packing away three Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots Championship trophies with his young trainees over at Grand River Raceway on Saturday night, his older stable star Aracache Hanover also enjoyed a productive night winning the final $50,000 Open Pace of the Mohawk Racetrack meet.
With four-time Saturday night winning driver Chris Christoforou taking the reins, Aracache Hanover established the lead from post four in the seven-horse field and carved out fractions of :26.4, :54.3, and 1:22.2 before holding off Rockincam (Jack Moiseyev) and Bigtime Ball (Roger Mayotte) to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.3 over the 'good' track rated one second off.
Aracache Hanover paid $5.30 to win as the 8-5 favourite.
The five-year-old son of Dragon Again, who is a career winner of 22 races and over $1.4 million in purses, is trained by McNair for owners William Switala and James Martin of Clarence Center, New York. He earned his sixth win of the season in 22 starts and pushed his 2012 bankroll to $358,683.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.