It was just another day at the office for Nick Steward at Leamington Raceway. The good news was that he picked up another four victories to increase his win total to 31 over the Rob Sparling, Jr.'s 12 in the first seven cards of racing. The bad news is that, now that 'summer' tracks are closing, new young guns are showing up to challenge the leader.
Case in point came in Monday’s sixth race Steward was looking for four-in-a-row with M G Idole when Garrett Rooney tipped out of the two-hole to win by a neck with Selmas Wish for Dave Burgess of Cambridge, ON in 1:58.4.
"Dave convinced me that a trip to Leamington could prove profitable as assistant race secretary Jan Adams was putting together competitive races where more than one horse, previously driven by Nick were showing up in the same race; and, as good as Nick is, he can only drive one in a race," Rooney chuckled.
Another young gun making his initial appearance was the popular Lorne House, with Sandburg Hanover. The son of American Ideal made every post a winning one stopping timer Paul Adams' watch in 1:56.4 for owner trainer Natasha House of Ingersoll, ON. The clocking established a new track record for older pacing horses. The former record of 1:57.2 was held by Aberarder Max.
There are seven more Sunday cards at Leamington, with post time scheduled for 1:30.
(With files from Leamington Raceway)
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Leamington Raceway.