Fans will have plenty of pari-mutuel action to enjoy this Sunday (June 13) as a trio of Ontario ovals will welcome horsepeople back to the track.
Dresden Raceway (1:00 p.m.), Clinton Raceway (1:30 p.m.) and Rideau Carleton Raceway (6:30 p.m.) will have their starting gates fired up as a total of 34 races combined will be contested.
Kicking off the Sunday festivities will be Dresden Raceway, and their featured event is the $5,500 Preferred 3 for pacers. A group of eight is set to go postward, and among the combatants is the classy veteran Leafs And Wings.
Just under six months away from mandatory retirement, the 14-year-old son of Rambaran continues to chip away and be productive for trainer Mike Rogers who has listed Alfie Carroll to pilot the 56-time winner.
"It's exciting to be back at the track and have all of these hardworking horse people back doing what they love," said Dresden’s track announcer Gary Patterson. “We are hoping that restrictions will be lifted more and more throughout the year so we can have some fans in the grandstand sometime this year. We have lots of great things planned when that happens."
Clinton Raceway follows suit 30 minutes later at 1:30 p.m., and they also feature a $5,500 Preferred 3 for pacers.
The coveted pole position in the featured affair belongs to Easy Flyer, who was an easy winner the last time he faced the starting gate. The son of Pang Shui will be on the lookout for his 21st lifetime victory. Cassidy Schneider trains the gelding who will be piloted by Colin Kelly.
Rideau Carleton Raceway will wrap up Sunday’s proceeding by treating fans to a 14-race program which is set to kickoff at 6:30 pm.
Featured on the marathon program are a set of $9,200 Preferred events – one for each gait.
A full group of nine will tussle in the $9,200 Preferred Trot including the very photogenic Lestenpercent for Team Laframboise. Rodney Laframboise will handle the lines of the Paul Laframboise pupil who is 2-for-4 this season after going 12-for-26 last year. The 22-time winner will depart from Post 5.
Late on the care it will be another photogenic performer, National Debt, taking on five other foes in the $9,200 Preferred Handicap for pacers. Slated to start from the outside of the starting gate, the 10-year-old son of Allamerican Native will take aim at the 69th win of his career. He went 12-for-30 last season and owns a 2-2-0 record from five starts this season. Pascal Berube will sulky sit for trainer Yves Tessier.
To view full entries for Sunday's harness racing action across Ontario, along with program pages (courtesy TrackIT), click the following links:
Dresden Raceway: Entries | Program Pages
Clinton Raceway: Entries | Program Pages
Rideau Carleton Raceway: Entries | Program Pages