Northfield, OH — The rivalry between harness racing standouts Winning Shadow (Credit Winner) and Smoking Jet (Triumphant Caviar) in the Open Trot at MGM Northfield Park wrote another chapter on Sunday (June 5).Ā Last week, Smoking Jet (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) defeated local favorite Winning Shadow (Chris Lems) by 1-3/4 lengths in a world-record tying 1:52.3.
This week, Winning Shadow would upend the Ron Burke trainee, also equaling Stormy Kromer’s 1:52.3 performance at Yonkers in 2020.
Lems wasted no time this week sending Winning Shadow to the lead, with Big Bad Caviar (Billy Davis Jr.) in tow at the quarter in :27.2. Lems got the breather he wanted, able to back the pace down to a :29 half, still leading by 1-1/4 lengths.
Heading to the three-quarter pole in 1:24.2, Wrenn began to attack with Smoking Jet. The two Open trotters would battle through the stretch, with Winning Shadow winning by a half-length.
WINNING SHADOW REPLAY
Winning Shadow now has 49 career victories in 129 starts and has amassed $709,401 in earnings. He is owned by Racing To Win Stable of Chittenango, NY and trained by Jordan Hope.
Racing at MGM Northfield Park resumes on Monday (June 6) with the first post of 6 p.m. The night features a pair of low 14% takeout guaranteed pools, including the $10,000 Late Pick-4 (R11) and $10,000 Super Hi-5 (R13).
For complete race results, click here.
by Michael Carter, for MGM Northfield Park and John Manzi, for GLADA