Mr Contestant went from buried in the three-hole to victory lane at 25-1 in Rideau Carleton Raceway’s co-featured harness racing Preferred trot on Sunday, Mar. 7.
Driver Stephane Brosseau tucked the six-year-old gelding into third starting from the rail. They sat there behind leader Lmc Mass Gem (Jacques Beadoin) and pocket-sitter Pasadena Star (Stephane Pouliot) through fractions of 28.2, 59, and 1:28.2.
His patience was rewarded as the inside path was vacated, allowing Mr Contestant to fly up the rail and pass all four in front of him to win by a neck in 1:58.1. Pasadena Star nearly outpaced him to the line but fell short. Crossfit (Marie-Claude Auger) stayed on after his first over effort to grab third. Lmc Mass Gem faded to fifth.
That was Mr Contestant’s 16th win from 92 lifetime, and it brought him to just a few thousand dollars shy of $200,000 in career earnings. The John Macmillan-trained son of Winning Mister also recorded his first win of 2021, paying $54.40.
Racemup took the other co-feature, overcoming a taxing front-end trip to go all the way in the Preferred Handicap.
Driver Marie-Claude Auger refused to take a seat through the first turn, driving on to take the lead going past the quarter in 26.4. Luke and Duke (Guy Gagnon) then provided almost immediate first-over pressure, hurrying Racemup to a half in 55.4. Auger carved out a mild breather to the three-quarters in 1:25.1 and sprinted out to a one-and-a-half-length lead in the stretch.
National Debt (Pascal Berube) threw in his hat with a late rally, as did Officer Jones (Ryan Guy) and Dreydl Hanover (Samuel Fillion), but Racemup had just enough to survive the cavalry charge and win by a neck in 1:55. National Debt surged for place, and Officer Jones edged Dreydl Hanover for show.
Racemup, a six-year-old gelding by Whataysay, increased his tally to 22 wins from 94 starts lifetime and surpassed $225,000 in earnings with that victory. Gordon Mc Donald and Christopher Boland of Ottawa own the Victor Puddy trainee. The horse paid $4.60 to win.
Richard Simard had four winners on the huge 15-race card: Twin B Fearless in the third, Atomic Million Am in the fifth, Sos Justified in the eighth, and Lunar Lunch in the ninth. Two trainers scored three: Macmillan, along with his preferred victory, captured the fourth race with Dylans Bank and the 13th with Vanilla Malted; Anne Turenne conditioned Twin B Fearless in the third, as well as the aforementioned Sos Justified and Lunar Lunch.
For full race results, click here.
by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink