Last day at Miami Fair saw new track record

The final day of harness racing at the Miami Fair was full of action, and the crowd was treated to outstanding performances across the board.

The day started with a natural hat trick for driver Blake Piwniuk and trainer Trevor Williams. The duo won the first three races on the card and set the tone early, with Irish Luke winning the first race in 2:04.1. That makes it back-to-back wins for the Youshouldseemenow sired colt. Handcuffed (Captive Audience) won the second race with a mile time of 2:00.4. The third straight win for the three-year-old filly now has a new lifetime mark to boast. The Sunshine Beach offspring, Tuff As Buff, took home the third race in 2:01.2 to complete the hat trick.

A couple of drivers also picked up their first wins of the summer. Clayton Braybrook drove home his nine-year-old mare in the fourth race to victory in 2:01.3. A couple of races later, in the sixth, Darryl Mason picked up his first win of the summer with Aime Hanover (Betting Line) with a solid mile time of 2:00.3.

Kevin Hildebrandt swept both Maiden races. The first one saw AK Black Badger (Andreoli Hanover) post a 2:04.2, and the young filly beat the field by nine lengths. AK Eagle (Andreoli Hanover) won similarly a couple of races later by posting a mile time of 2:06.1 and won by six lengths.

The biggest long-shot winner of the day was Go On Bow Bow (Lambretta), who won the ninth race at 27-1 odds! The second win of the year for the four-year-old . Jacques Lambert currently owns her but is being leased to Marc Fillion. Fillion also trains and was in the bike for the victory.

The Fillies and Mare Open saw the first sub 2:00 time of the day. I Will Do It (Camluck) posted a 1:58.3 time and earned the fourth win of the year. The eight-year-old mare came from third place around the three-quarter mark to pass the competition down the stretch. She paced the closing quarter in 29.2, just enough to take home top honours. The win was also the fourth on the day for Piwniuk and Williams.

The best was undoubtedly left for last as the tenth and final race had the track record broken. Keystone Tenacious (So Surreal) left hard from the gate at the word go and posted an opening quarter time of 28.2. Tagoras tightly followed the eight-year-old gelding, and the two passed the half-mile station in 57.1. Keystone Tenacious started to take off from the rest of the field by the three-quarter mark, and he charged by it in 1:26.1.

With the previous track record being 1:56.1, he had to finish the last quarter in 30.0 to tie it at least. However, Keystone Tenacious posted a 29.3 final quarter, which gave him a complete mile time of 1:55.4. This would also be the fifth win for trainer Trevor Williams and driver Blake Piwniuk.

This concludes the mini-meet at Miami Fair and sets up the opening for Canada’s newest harness racing track, the Loop. Winnipeg, Manitoba, will have live harness racing for the first time in over 27 years. Post time at the new track is 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Aug 5).

For complete results, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink