Foiled Again, mired in one of his worst seasons when it comes to harness racing victories turned the tables on Saturday night capturing the first of two US$35,000 preliminaries in the Breeders Crown Open pacing division at Woodbine as an 8-1 outsider.
The richest Standardbred of all time, Foiled Again entered the contest with nearly $7.2 million banked throughout his storied career but this year had just one victory in 17 starts prior to Saturday night. The lack of wins didn't stop driver Yannick Gingras from giving Foiled Again a good steer as he got away third in the early stages as Melmerby Beach and Paul MacDonell sprinted out through a :26 1/5 quarter to take control. Arthur Blue Chip was a distant second in the opening quarter with Foiled Again third.
Gingras waited until the :54 2/5 half had been clocked before setting Foiled Again, an 11-year-old son of Dragon Again to the outside. The gelding knew exactly what to do as he grinded his way up to the leader through a 1:22 1/5 three quarter clocking and then shifted into high gear in the homestretch scoring quite safely in 1:50 flat.
The victory was number 85 in the career of Foiled Again, trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and JJK Stables.
JK Endofanera was sent off as the heavy favorite but he trailed from the start and closed briskly for second as the 6-5 choice. Arthur Blue Chip squeezed in late for third with pacesetter Melmerby Beach and McWicked also advancing to the final.
"Every win is special with him," said Yannick Gingras the winning driver. "He's the greatest horse I've every driven."
The driver suggested that the wins have come with more spacing this year in parts due to Foiled Again's age and an abundance of poor post positions.
"When he draws outside you have to use him too much early and he just can't finish after that. Usually I know how good he's going to be when we come through the final turn," said Gingras. "Tonight he latched on to me and I knew they weren't going to beat him."
Foiled Again