Renaissance Man won as he pleased while Secret Weapon pulled off an upset in Tuesday’s $13,000 Preferred events at Georgian Downs.
After struggling on the WEG circuit for trainer Ben Baillargeon, Renaissance Man shipped to the Innisfil oval and front-stepped his way to a 1:57 score in the Preferred Trot.
Mario Baillargeon was the architect of the gate-to-wire score with the four-year-old son of Yankee Glide, who led through fractions of :28.1, :57.4 and 1:27.2 en route to the 1:57 triumph. Sent off as the even-money favourite, the gelding defeated Batalj Launcher and The Prowler.
C Tremblay Holding Inc. of Brossard, QC and Ben Baillargeon of Rockwood, ON share ownership on the five-time winner, who pushed his lifetime bankroll over the $100,000 mark with the victory.
Secret Weapon capitalized on a pocket trip to take home weekly bragging rights in the Preferred Pace. Trained by Wayne Preszcator and driven by Aaron Byron, the gelding swept off the rail in the stretch and used a :28.2 closing kick to stop the clock in 1:53.4.
Trevor Jay B, who was sent off as the 6-5 favourite, held on to finish second after chopping out fractions of :27, :56.3 and 1:25. Pacific Oak closed from well off the pace to finish third.
The six-year-old son of Western Hanover, who is owned by Barbara Lehman, Robert Patterson and James Lehman, picked up his seventh win of the season and the 21st victory of his career. He is closing in on $260,000 in lifetime earnings.
To view Tuesday’s results, click here.