34-1 upset kicks off night at Grand River

Grand River Raceway held a 10-dash harness racing card on Wednesday (Jul. 31) evening. It wasn’t long before the big payouts were given out as a 34-1 longshot shocked in the very first race, which was a $6,200 Fillies & Mare Claiming conditional pace.

The three-year-old Betterthancheddar Filly, Allsmokeandmirrors, crossed the finish line first but only after being stuck at the back of the pack early. Duchess Of Brant (Travis Henry) took the early lead.  After a blistering 26.4 opening quarter, Duchess Of Brant slowed the second panel down to 30 seconds. She tried to bring the speed back and hit the three quarter station in 1:25.3.  

It wasn’t until the deep stretch that Allsmokeandmirrors lunged ahead and stole the win. The clock stopped at 1:55 which is good enough to be her new lifetime best. A final quarter of 28.4 was more than enough for her to come charging down the center of the track. 

T H Jackies Legacy (Travis Cullen) finished second while Duchess Of Brant fell to third after leading for most of the race.

ALLSMOKEANDMIRRORS REPLAY

It was Ryan Desroche’s only drive on the card and he picked up his 39th win. It was also the only horse James Wellwood entered on the night and he scored his seventh win of the year.

Also on the card, Scott Young picked up the hat trick in the bike. He was a part of his own upset at 13-1 in the second race with She Trotsalot (Muscle Mass). Even though the bettors didn’t have faith in her, she won wire-to-wire in a lifetime mark effort of 1:55.2

Young’s other driving wins were with betting favourites. He was teamed up with the Father Patrick gelding, Veracruz in the fourth. It’s now back-to-back wins for the sophomore trotter and he just missed matching his lifetime mark of 1:57.1 but three-fifths of a second.

Young’s final win came in the nightcap with Jgs Pal (Tactical Landing). After sitting fourth for the first half of the race, the duo made the move and never looked back. The timer read 1:57.4 which is the three-year-old gelding’s best winning time of the year.

Racing will continue at Grand River Raceway on Friday, Aug. 2 at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink