The Friday (Sept. 4) race card at Truro Raceway featured three $7,201 divisions of the Carl And Marg MacKenzie Memorial for three-year-old pacing colts and two $7,535 divisions for three-year-old pacing fillies.
Mr Kelly motored to the fastest victory of the three colt splits, parking the 3-2 favourite and strolling to a track-record 1:54.1 win.
Driver Adam Merner pushed Mr Kelly to the front with pylon-starter Woodmere Rollnpop settling for the pocket. Imalookertoo, the race favourite, showed speed from post 7 but had no pocket to tuck into and raced wide to a :27.2 first quarter. He continued to advance towards the lead and edged a half length in front of Mr Kelly to a :56.3 half but could not clear moving into the third turn. Into the backstretch Imalookertoo began to tire while Mr Kelly strode to three-quarters in 1:24.4 and scooted away from tiring horses to win by three lengths. Harry G took second with Woodmere Rollnpop third.
Owned by Marsha Knox, Kyla MacDonald and Wade MacDonald, Mr Kelly won his fourth race from nine starts this season and his sixth from 20 overall, earning $30,718. Ronnie Gass trains the Rollwithitharry gelding who paid $8.00 to win.
Tobins Rebel ripped off a pocket ride to a 1:55.2 win in the second split of the MacKenzie Memorial.
Windemere Ryan landed on the lead from post 6 past a :27.3 first quarter with Tobins Rebel yielding for the pocket. Woodmere Rollex raced third to a :57.2 half and tipped first over to pressure Windemere Ryan through three-quarters in 1:26.2. The pair continued to battle into the final turn but squabbled in the dust of Tobins Rebel, who shot out of the pocket into the stretch and slid to a two-and-three-quarter length win. Woodmere Rollex took second with J J Austin taking third.
Trained and driven by Gilles Barrieau for owner Daniel Ross, Tobins Rebel won his seventh race from nine starts this season and his 13th from 17 overall, earning $79,672. Sent the 1-5 favourite, the Camystic gelding paid $2.40 to win.
Windemere Frank wired his competition as the favourite in the opening colt dash, winning in 1:57.3.
Leaving from post 1, Windemere Frank protected position to a :28 first quarter with Caught In A Dream racing second and The Big Chase third. Manlicious angled first over from fifth before a :58.2 half and progressed to mount a mild challenge to Windemere Frank through three-quarters in 1:27.4. Into the final turn Manlicious began to tire, prompting the backfield wide as the top three battled into the stretch. The Big Chase charged quickest after Windemere Frank coming to the line, but the 3-5 favourite kept a neck in front to win. Caught In A Dream settled for third.
A Malicious colt owned by Debbie Denney and Hollis Newson, Windemere Frank won his fifth race from 10 starts this season and his sixth from 14 overall, earning $25,495. David Dowling drove the $3.10 winner for trainer Earl Watts.
Woodmere Skyroller won the quicker of the two MacKenzie divisions for pacing fillies when a disqualification placed her first for a de facto wire-to-wire win in 1:56.3.
Driver Brodie MacPhee fired Woodmere Skyroller from the pylons to lead Saulsbrook Ocean to a :28 first quarter with Ashestodiamonds racing third. Woodmere Skyroller continued uncontested to a :58.3 half as Watch Me Dance edged first over from fifth to roll uncovered towards the pacesetter nearing three-quarters in 1:27.3.
Rounding the final turn Watch Me Dance lost ground and created a tight opening, from which Saulsbrook Ocean pounced and rallied past Woodmere Skyroller to win. However when vacating pocket, Saulsbrook Ocean veered into Watch Me Dance, prompting her disqualification from first to fourth. Watch Me Dance moved into second, where she finished in a dead heat with Ashestodiamonds.
Trained by Kevin MacLean for owner Reginald MacPherson, Woodmere Skyroller won her fifth race from nine starts this season and her eighth from 19 overall, earning $65,664. The Rollwithitharry filly paid $3.80 to win.
Gotta Love Cabot pulled a 10-1 upset in the other filly division, rallying from last to first in a 1:57.4 mile.
Away sixth to a :28.1 first quarter, Gotta Love Cabot soon sat last to a :57.3 half as an outer tier developed to follow Thebossisagirl, who parked uncovered from the start and dueled with pacesetter Theskysthelimit. Theskysthelimit rebuffed her first over challenger heading to three-quarters in 1:26.3 as the backfield circumvented Thebossisagirl. However the leader shortened stride into the stretch as Red Dirt Star took a narrow lead. Gotta Love Cabot had room into the turn to swing off the pylons to the center of the track and rolled to the finish with the most momentum, sliding to a half-length win over Red Dirt Star with Lorne Valley Barb third.
Returning $25.60 to win, Gotta Love Cabot won her second race from 12 starts, earning $9,428. Mary Clare MacDonald drove and train the Malicious filly bred and owned by Morah Kerr and Phonsie MacEachern.
Preceding the evening's stakes action, 1-9 favourite Bettim Again lowered the track record for two-year-old pacing geldings. The son of Malicious struck the lead early and set a clip of :27.2, :57.1 and 1:26.4 while widening his lead to a margin of 10-and-a-half lengths in a 1:56 mile.
Trained by George Rennison and driven by Gilles Barrieau, the gelding competes for breeder Jeff Lilley and co-owners Christina Lecky, Blair MacLauchlan and Ian MacDonald. He paid $2.10 to win.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Truro Raceway.