CAMPBELLVILLE, September 19 – As Pinkman earned double millionaire status with a win in the $700,000 Canadian Trotting Classic, driver Yannick Gingras captured his third stakes victory on Saturday evening's harness racing card at Mohawk Racetrack.
Trainer Jimmy Takter sent four of his trainees postward in the Canada's richest race for trotters, but it was his heavily favoured Hambletonian winner, Pinkman, who returned to victory lane.
In the early going, Pinkman followed behind leader Crazy Wow as they passed the quarter pole in :27.3. At the three-eighth marker, Pinkman was pulled from the pocket and rolled to the font. The gelding held command past the half in :56.2 and three-quarters in 1:25.1.
In the stretch, a parked out The Bank put pressure on his stablemate and so did Crazy Wow, but they were no match for Pinkman. The sophomore pulled away in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.3. Crazy Wow finished second. The Takter-trained Uncle Lasse, The Bank and French Laundry finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
"We campaigned four horses in this race and I thought all four horses raced tremendous, so my job is to try and get the most out of the cake that I can and we almost got most of it," said Takter.
"Everything has been great and the whole game is fantastic," added co-owner John Fielding, who won last year's Canadian Trotting Classic with Father Patrick. "We have so much fun with it. This horse is no exception and I'm fortunate to have my brother here and my wife and my family and of course Jimmy and Christina have been partners for us and the McClelland's. It's just a great ride. We have a lot of fun with it and thankful I don't have to do this for a business, but it's a lot of fun being a part of this game."
Before winning with Pinkman, Gingras won the Elegantimage with Mission Brief and the William Wellwood Memorial Trot with Southwind Frank.
"I feel great," said the reinsman. "I had some power coming into the night and was just hoping the horses showed up and all three of them certainly did."
The three-year-old son of Explosive Matter and Margie Seelster has won 10 races in 14 seasonal starts. The 16-time career winner now boasts career earnings of $2,171,800 for owners Christina Takter, John and Jim Fielding, Joyce McClelland and Herb Liverman.
Pinkman becomes the eighth Hambletonian winner in the last 15 years to win the Canadian Trotting Classic. He joins Yankee Paco (2000), Windsong's Legacy (2004), Donato Hanover (2007), Deweycheatumnhowe (2008), Muscle Hill (2009), Market Share (2012) and Royalty For Life (2013).
Pinkman paid $3.40 to win.
Mark McKelvie