Maidens broken, win streaks extended

While two harness racing horses collected their third wins in a row, three others scored their lifetime firsts on Friday at Grand River Raceway.

Something Royal, a six-year-old daughter of Western Paradise, defeated $15,000 claiming opponents for the third straight week and remained undefeated under trainer Richard Moreau. She claimed the top spot early and converted it to a 1:55.1 win for driver Brett Macdonald and owners Don Beanland of Burlington and Cheryl Moreau of Puslinch. They claimed the mare, who is now 10-for-66 in her career, for $8,750 on Jul. 25.

SOMETHING ROYAL REPLAY

Partyintheshadows also rode the front end to victory, setting down a new lifetime mark of 1:54.3 and winning his third straight. The three-year-old Shadow Play colt rose in class but won by a length and a half, his largest margin of the streak. Colin Kelly drove for trainer Kyle Bossence and owner/breeder Brad Gray of Dundas. Partyintheshadows is now six-for-16 lifetime.

PARTYINTHESHADOWS REPLAY

Athens Seelster took the second race in 1:58 to break his maiden after three attempts. Robert McIntosh trains the two-year-old Thinking Out Loud gelding that he co-owns with Al McIntosh Holdings Inc., David Fisher, and Ian Fisher. They bought the horse for $24,235 from the Lexington Selected sale.

ATHENS SEELSTER REPLAY

It took Nytro J 11 starts, but the son of Big Jim notched his first lifetime in the third. Natasha Day steered the three-year-old gelding to victory in 1:57.2 from post six. Jack Moiseyev conditions the horse for breeder Frank Tomcala of Owosso, who owns with Taylor Equine Racing LLC of Albion.

NYTRO J REPLAY

A new set of hands got the job done for Brightside Melvin. Trainer Julie Walker appointed Anthony Haughan as the driver of her sophomore Mcaracas colt, who won by more than five lengths in 1:57.1. The horse finished in the top three once in his first six starts under Jean Bernard Renaud. Terry Fried of Bright owns and bred Brightside Melvin.

BRIGHTSIDE MELVIN REPLAY

Driver Austin Sorrie won three of the day’s 10 races. Colin Kelly still leads the title race with 33 wins; Macdonald is on his tail with 31, and Sorrie is close behind with 28.

Racing returns to Grand River Raceway on Monday, Aug. 16. First post on the 11-race schedule will be 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink