McIntosh sweeps Battle of Waterloo eliminations

The Battle of Waterloo eliminations headlined Grand River’s full card of harness racing action.

Always A Thrill (Bettors Delight) won the first split with a mile time of 1:57.2. This is the gelding’s first career win. He finished fourth in his debut but followed that up with a second-place finish in the first leg of the OSS Grassroots. Aways A Thrill is trained by Robert McIntosh and was driven to victory by Bob McClure. McClure visited the winner’s circle twice during the card. The other visits came earlier with the three-year-old filly Jemenar (Dali).

ALWAYS A THRILL REPLAY

Do Better (Bettors Delight) and Sylvain Fillion won the second and fastest elimination. The duo paced the mile in 1:56.0. Fillion only secures the one win on the card. The gelding is now a perfect three-for-three in his young racing career. Trainer Robert McIntosh picks up his two wins on the night and sweeps the Battle of Waterloo eliminations.

DO BETTER REPLAY

Always A Thrill will come from the fifth post position, while Do Better gets post position three in the finals.

Louis-Philippe Roy was in the winner’s circle after both Battles of the Belles’ elimination. First up, he drove the Bettors Delight sired filly, Collusion Hanover, to her second career win in 1:56.4. Trainer Luc Blais’ only win on the card. Still, his only other entry last night, Greatest Pleasure, finished second place in the other elimination pace.

COLLUSION HANOVER REPLAY

Roy was in the bike with Pass Line (All Bets Off) and scored his second win of the night. The young filly has had a remarkable start to her career. She has won five times in only six-lifetime starts. Pass Line won four straight times to kick off the year but had a third-place finish in the ONSS Gold division pace last time out. Pass Line is with trainer, David Menary and he had two entries in each Battle of the Belles elimination. Bonitas Best Bet and How Much are the two Menary entries that make through to finals.

PASS LINE REPLAY

Collusion Hanover draws the rail for the finals while Pass Line gets to lineup in post position four.

The $205,200 Battle of Waterloo and the $138,400 Battle of the Belles Finals will happen on Industry Day (Aug. 7) at Grand River. The special post time is at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

Grand River continues racing on Aug. 2, with a 10-race card featuring two splits for the Prospect Series three-year-old colt and gelding pacing division. Post time is 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Trey Colbeck for Harnesslink