NZ-bred 12-year-old earns first Canadian win

More than five years after landing in North America, Kiwi-bred Our Max Phactor N (Art Major) won in Canada for the first time on Thursday (Dec. 12) in his second harness racing start north of the border.

Tyler Jones settled the gelding in third to the first station in :28.2 and swung him out to move to the front on the backstretch. He reached the top after a laboured advance shortly past the midway point in :57.2 but was quickly under attack from Cereal Killer (Jody Jamieson) at three-quarters in 1:27.

Our Max Phactor N held strong, neutralizing that rival as they pulled away from the rest, and he reached the line three-quarters-of-a-length in front in 1:57.3.

Cereal Killer finished second with Officer Jones five lengths adrift picking up the show cheque.

OUR MAX PHACTOR N REPLAY

It was the first victory of the season for Max Phactor N, who moved to Canada from Ohio last month after Jean Allaire and Francis Guillemette purchased the gelding. He made his North American debut in 2019 at Yonkers Raceway in New York and has since raced at 15 different tracks. His first start in Canada came last week with a place finish at Mohawk. Guillemette now trains the 12-year-old, who has won 36 times and raked in $526,296 in earnings from 214 lifetime outings.

Racing continues at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:10 p.m. EST.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink