Shepherd gets hat trick at Rideau Carleton

Rideau Carleton Raceway hosted a 10-dash harness racing card Tuesday evening, and Robert Shepherd picked up the hat trick in the bike.

Shepherd got his first win of the night in the fifth race on the card with Thinkingofyoubabe (Thinking Out Loud). This is the six-year-old mare’s seventh win of the year and third in a row. Shepherd and Thinkingofyoubabe jumped right to the front at the word go and never looked back. The duo won wire-to-wire in 1:55.0. Mandy Archer gets her 65th win of the year as a trainer.

THINKINGOFYOUBABE REPLAY

Shepherd went to the winner’s circle in the next race with the three-year-old trotter, Wolinak (Wheeling N Dealin). This is the second straight win for the Isabelle Darveau-trained gelding. This is his third win on the year after going winless as a two-year-old. Wolinak also won wire-to-wire and posted a new lifetime mark of 1:58.4.

WOLINAK REPLAY

It took Sheperd until the very last race of the evening to get the third win. He drove Mask Of Zoro (Muscle Mass) to his first win of 2023. The duo had to work for this win as they came from fifth place at the half-mile mark to eventually sneak up the field to get the win by a head. Mask Of Zoro trotted the mile in 1:59.3 and earned his fifth-lifetime win. Benoit Herbet gets his fourth win of the year as a trainer.

MASK OF ZORO REPLAY

Shanghaigold (Shanghai Phil) gets his first win of the year and his 12th lifetime. Pascal Berube drove the six-year-old pacer to victory by going wire-to-wire. This was his first start at Rideau Carleton Raceway since December of 2021. Since then, Shanghiagold has been racing exclusively at the half-mile oval at Hippodrome 3R. The change to a five-eighth track has paid off for him, as 1:55.4 is now his lifetime mark. This was also the first year of the year for trainer Pierre Piedaule.

SHANGHAIGOLD REPLAY

Berube ended the day with a total of two wins. His other win came a couple of races earlier with Tattooman (Wheeling N Dealin). The three-year-old trotter now has his third win of the year after going winless in his rookie campaign. He trotted the mile in 1:59.4 after sitting most of the race in the pocket and waiting until near the end to sail on by. Andre Lachance picks up the win as a trainer.

TATTOOMAN REPLAY

Rideau Carleton Raceway will host an 11-race on Aug. 6 at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink