After a week off for the Clinton Spring Fair, live harness racing returned to the Huron County Oval with strong wagering numbers for the third week of the season.
Mutuel totals topped $29,000 during the 10-race Sunday afternoon card. The trackside fundraiser was co-hosted by the Seaforth Stars and Blyth/Brussels Crusaders Minor Hockey Associations, and via a BBQ, bake sale and 50/50 draw the organizations were able to raise just over $2,000 to go towards their upcoming seasons.
"We've had such an overwhelming response to our fundraising program, that we are ending up with more groups than we have race dates," commented the track’s marketing manager, Jessica Carnochan. "We thought in order to accommodate as many groups as we can we brought some organizations together, to co-host." Funds from the day are shared between the two groups.
Winning happened both on and off track with the ‘Super Sunday Show,’ sponsored by Natures nest in Londesboro.
The highlight of the card was Race 5, which was the $5,000 opening leg of the Sharpes Series for fillies and mares. After having been hammered down to five cents on the dollar, the Andrew McCabe-trained and Colin Kelly-driven Significance ($2.10) left from Post 1, cut all the fractions (:29, :59.4, 1:30.1) and recorded a two-length victory in 2:00. Significance is owned by Glenview Livestock Ltd. (of Wallenstein, Ont.) and Cheryl Cherry (Guelph, Ont.).
The win was one of two training victories on the program for McCabe. Patrick Bissett also recorded a training double. Ryan Desroche recorded a driving triple during the afternoon program.
Live harness racing will continue at Clinton Raceway on Father's Day (Sunday June 16), which will see the Huron Residential Hospice as the day’s fundraiser. Bring dad out for an afternoon at the track for the chance to win a smoker and lots of special prizes and giveaways on the Super Sunday Show.
Full details and information on the 2019 season can be found at clintonraceway.com
(With files from Clinton Raceway)