48-1 upset in opening of Snowshoe Series

Standardbred Canada reports that the Snowshoe Pacing Series kicked off on Friday night (Jan. 21) with a trio of $18,000 first leg harness racing divisions that included a 48-1 upset.

The series is for three and four-year-old colts that are non-winners of two races or $30,000 lifetime as of October 31, 2021.

VP Rockin opened the series with a 1:54.4 front-end score as the even-money favourite for driver Doug McNair.

VP Rockin rolled right to the front from post eight and shook off a third quarter challenge from 44-1 shot Gold Train (Jonathan Drury), who ended up third. After leading through fractions of :28.2, :58.1 and 1:27.2, VP Rockin prevailed ahead of Bettorbeflyin (Jody Jamieson), who found room late to get off the cones and finish three-quarters of a length behind.

The four-year-old Rockin Image gelding earned his first Canadian victory since shipping into the care of trainer Gregg McNair last month for the Valedictory Series, during which he hit the board in all three legs. Now a four-time winner, VP Rockin is owned by Rick Howles, Geoffrey Howles and Souren Hovsepian.

State Senator pulled off a 48-1 stunner in the second Snowshoe division for O’Brien Award finalist James MacDonald as he wore down 6-5 favourite P L Octavius late in the 1:55.2 mile.

Parked through a :28.1 quarter, P L Octavius (Trevor Henry) cleared to command near the three-eighths mark and reached the half in :58 with company coming from the upset-minded State Senator approaching three-quarters in 1:27.1. Advancing from an early four-hole, State Senator defeated P L Octavius by half a length, with Silver Maple (Sylvain Filion) closing off his cover to finish third.

State Senator returned a whopping $99.60 for a $2 win ticket. The four-year-old State Treasurer gelding, who earned his previous five wins while racing in Alberta during his sophomore season, is owned by Michael Arnold of Olds, Alta. and current trainer Vernon Cochrane of Fergus, Ont.

After a five-win performance at The Raceway in London, Ont., driver Brett MacDonald zipped to Woodbine Mohawk Park and worked out another winning drive in the final Snowshoe division of the night with his own four-year-old pacer Saulsbrook Victor scoring in 1:54.4.

Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, the Ron MacDonald-trained Saulsbrook Victor launched off cover from third-over down the stretch and powered home a 3-1/2-length winner for the father and son team. In the race for place, early leaver Four Finger Floyd (Trevor Henry) edged out Hippyjohn (Doug McNair), who had rushed to command at the :58.3 half-mile mark and led past three-quarters in 1:27.1 into the stretch.

The victory followed three runner-up finishes for the lightly raced Source Of Pride gelding, who now has five wins in just 11 starts.

To view Friday’s harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park

From Standardbred Canada