Field set for Leamington’s Lakeshore Cup

Something that might get lost in harness racing news this weekend is that Leamington Raceway will be hosting its highlight race of the year. Six pacers on Sunday (Oct. 30) will battle over the purse of $9,000 and the honour of winning the Lakeshore Cup Invitational.

Here is a review of the field:

1. Bolt Power (Bolt The Duer) 3-1
Trainer: Brained Reibeling
Driver: Braiden Reibeling
Bolt Power is a four-year-old gelding that was bred in Maryland. He started racing as a three-year-old back in 2021. His first visit to the winner’s circle came on July 3rd, 2021 where he beat the rest of the field in the time of 1:54.3. Over 43 lifetime starts, he has accumulated 10 wins and over $125,000 in earnings. He has been lucky enough to draw the rail three other times before and he has managed to win two of those races and finished second in the other start. Bolt Power with trainer Braiden Reibeling in the bike will look to improve that.

2. Livin Large (Living It Up) 8-1
Trainer: George Robinson
Driver: Garret Rooney
Livin Large is west coast bred and comes from British Columbia originally. The six-year-old bred gelding started his racing career at Fraser Downs and picked up his first win there back in March of 2019. Fast forward to today and he is sitting at nine wins and is just shy of $100,000 in earnings. He has a lifetime mark of 1:53.4 which he achieved at Hiawatha Horse Park in 2021. He participated in last year’s Lakeshore Cup, and he finished third. Livin Large teams up once again with Garrett Rooney and they will look to improve on last year’s performance.

3. Number One Hit (Somebeachsomewhere) 6-1
Trainer: Donald Rankin
Driver: Donald Ranking
Number One Hit has only 25
lifetime starts even though he has been racing since 2020. The four-year-old Delaware bred gelding will be looking for his 10th career win on Sunday. He is sitting at $61,316 in lifetime earnings and will look to add to that with trainer Donald Rankin in the bike. Number One Hit is batting .750 while coming from post position three as he’s drawn it four times and won three of those starts.

4. Mister Rebbily A (Mr Feelgood) 5-1
Trainer: Cameron McQueen
Driver: Ryan Desroche
Mister Rebbily A comes from the land of down under, Queensland, Australia. The six-year-old gelding made 12 starts in Australia before moving to North America in 2020. Mister Rebbily A is also just shy of $100,000 in earnings and a good finish on Sunday could change that. He has booked himself 12 visits to the winner’s circle and his best time of 1:52.0 was achieved at Yonkers Raceway. He has never won from post position four while racing in North America and he will look to correct that unfortunate stat with Ryan Desroche climbs aboard.

5. Life Is Better (Betterthancheddar) 6-5
Trainer: Kenneth Mathieson
Driver: Scott Wray
Life Is Better will be making his second appearance in the Lakeshore Cup after finishing seventh last year in the event. The six-year-old gelding has 23 lifetime wins and his lifetime mark of 1:55.4 was achieved at Leamington Raceway back in August of this year. He will be looking to do it against on Sunday and will have Scott Wray as a teammate. He hasn’t been able to win from post position five since February 2019, when he won from that spot at Flamboro Downs.

6. Maddys Credit (Up The Credit) 2-1
Trainer: Cassidy Schneider
Driver: Natasha Day
Maddys Credit is the most experienced pacer to draw in and the only mare in the field of six. She has made 142 appearances and has won 17 of those. Natasha Day has been the driver for this mare almost exclusively since November of 2020, so they tandem have great familiarity. Maddys Credit’s current best time of 1:55.2 was achieved on the half-mile oval at Grand River Raceway. She’s won from post position six only twice in her long racing career and those wins came at Woodbine Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The Lakeshore Cup Invitational will be the ninth race on Leamington Raceway’s card. All the action starts at 1:00 PM EST.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink