Twenty-two this season for Hugh Heff

Hugh Heff (Betterthancheddar), North America’s winningest harness racing horse this year, increased his tally to 22 with an eighth straight victory at Northside Downs on Monday (Oct. 14).

The gelding left from post six and slipped in behind Revenant to take the pocket spot in a :29 first quarter. Randy Getto pulled him off the rail to go on the offensive as the field turned towards the stands and the gelding quickly pulled alongside Revenant. Hugh Heff was neck-and-neck with leader at the half in 1:00 but lost ground on the third turn before pulling back to within a length at three-quarters in 1:30.2.

The two geldings battled toe-to-toe around the final turn with Hugh Heff gaining, and he finally pushed clear in the final strides to win the war by a quarter-length.

The game Revenant battled to the end and finished second. Kraken Seelster (Ardon Mofford) was third.

HUGH HEFF REPLAY

Hugh Heff is undefeated since moving to the East Coast with eight consecutive wins in the Winners-Over at Northside Downs. Dana Getto trains the gelding for Randy Getto of New Waterford, Susan Macsween of River Ryan, and Wayne Hardy of Sydney. The four-year-old is 30-for-70 lifetime with $103,181 in earnings.

He now has a five-win lead in the standings over his two nearest rivals, Lloyd’s Loves and Need Ur Opinion.

Racing will resume at Northside Downs on Saturday, Oct. 19.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink