Sportswriter filly debuts in 1:57.1 at Rideau

D A Temptation (Sportswriter) lowered the season’s harness racing record for a two-year-old on a five-eighths mile track with a 1:57.1 victory on debut at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Thursday (Jun. 30).

Guy Gagnon gave the filly a pocket seat to the quarter in :28.2 and made a prompt move to the front while passing the stands. D A Temptation continued to the half in :59.4 with Light The Torch (Always B Miki, Jacques Beaudoin) threatening on the outside.

D A Temptation responded to Gagnon’s urging during the journey to three-quarters to 1:28.1, turning away Light The Torch, and cruised to the line to win by a length-and-a-half in 1:57.1.

Light The Torch finished strongly for place. Street Art (Artspeak, Donald Jobin) was third.

PL Yvan Mondoux Inc. of Blainville purchased the filly for $25,000 from the London Selected sale. Gagnon also trains the first winner out of Camluck mare Taboo Seelster.

Also on the card, Muscle Mass stallion Ripped And Ready lowered his lifetime mark in his fifth Preferred-level victory in seven starts this season. He sat in the four-hole throughout the opening half, brushed to the lead on the second backstretch trip, and finished under wraps for the victory.

Fit Bitt (Jimmy Gagnon) took place ahead of Gloire Dream (Samuel Fillion) and Black Tie Bash (Robert Shepherd), who dead-heated for third.

Thierry Vandenplas trains Ripped And Ready, a five-year-old who has thrived in the Rideau Preferred ranks for Dr. Ruth Irving in the past two seasons. The stallion is 17-for-49 lifetime with $187,166 in earnings. He has cemented his place as the track’s top trotter with five wins and two seconds in seven tries this year.

Top-level pacers clash at Rideau Carleton in its next card on Sunday, Jul. 3. Its first post is set for 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink