11-1 upset in $36,000 Preferred

Powertrain (Shadow Play) bounced back from a sixth-place finish in his seasonal debut with an upset harness racing win in the $36,000 Preferred Pace on Saturday (Jan. 25) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

From the rail, he let four opponents by as they raced into the first turn and sat fifth throughout first-half splits of :28 and :56.3. He briefly broke stride as the field jammed up on the backstretch, but he resumed pacing and pulled out behind Fox Valley Landen (Trevor Henry) approaching the final turn.

Powertrain advanced second-over to three-quarters in 1:25.3 and shifted over at the top of the stretch. He bore down on the leaders from the outside and battled clear in the final 1/16th of a mile to prevail in 1:54.2.

The charging Pacino Hanover (Travis Cullen) missed by a neck in second. No Control (Tyler Borth) finished third.

POWERTRAIN REPLAY

Powertrain is now 14-for-53 lifetime for trainer Nick Gallucci and owner/breeder Millar Farms. The consistent gelding has hit the board in six of his past seven starts, including a narrow Preferred defeat two back. The seven-year-old has earned $420,945.

Driver Doug McNair caught fire on the card, winning six of 11 dashes. He scored with his first four drives in races one, three, four, and five, then took the seventh and the finale. The superb night boosted the reinsman’s numbers to 21 victories in 93 starts this year, a strike rate of 22.6 per cent.

Racing will continue at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. EST.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink