Kiss Me Im Irish stuns top Northside pacers

Big Jim mare Kiss Me Im Irish defeated her male harness racing opponents in the Winners Over feature at Northside Downs on Saturday (Jun. 4) as the longest shot on the board.

The field traveled through the :30 first quarter in starting order before Gentry Seelster (Edgar Jacobs) rushed up to challenge the leader from fifth. Mark Pezzarello slid Kiss Me Im Irish out to catch his cover, and the mare was on Jacobs’s helmet as they hit the half in :59.4.

Gentry Seelster began to back up as they moved to three-quarters in 1:29.4, prompting a three-wide move from Kiss Me Im Irish. She dueled Northside powerhouse Johnnie Jack (Ryan Campbell), who led into the final turn. The pair were on level terms as the field swept for home, but Kiss Me Im Irish broke the deadlock at the top of the stretch and soared away to win by four lengths in 1:59.

A Better Man (John Gerrard Kennedy), making his first start in Nova Scotia for new connections, caught Johnnie Jack for place. The winner returned $19.10.

Kiss Me Im Irish has won 20 of her 59 lifetime starts and has raked in $33,549. She has alternated between the each Maritime province since partners Bernard Macneil, Joseph MacNeil, and Robert Macneil bought the mare from the Ontario circuit in late 2019. She is two-for-four this season.

Also on the card, Joel LeBlanc of Victoria Mines harnessed his first winner as trainer. He sent out Howmac Napoleon (Articulator), who wired the field in 2:00 in the seventh race with Redmond Doucet at the lines. It was the first win this year for the five-year-old gelding, who came into LeBlanc’s care before the start of the season. Harold LeBlanc, who co-owns the horse with Ian McKinnon, Joel LeBlanc, and Brenda Macqueen, was the gelding’s previous trainer.

Northside Downs resumes racing on Saturday, Jun. 11.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink