Smoke N Reactor N survives inquiry

New Zealand import Smoke N Reactor N retained her victory in The Raceway at Western Fair‘s co-featured harness racing Preferred 3 Pace after deep-stretch stickhandling drew the interest of the stewards.

Driver Jean Rene Plante sent the mare out sharply from post five, but Powerful Chris (Colin Kelly) forced her into the pocket entering the first turn. The latter led to the quarter in :28.1, half in :58.3, and three-quarters in 1:28.

Saulsbrook Jessie (Brett Macdonald) attacked from first-up going into the final turn, and a compact outside flow left Smoke N Reactor N trapped on the rail. She found room when second-over Sirius Star (Michael Horner) shifted into the three-path, and Plante lunged his charge to the rail as Powerful Chris faded, causing the latter to toss her head and bear in.

Smoke N Reactor N then shot up the pylons, going by both of the top two to win by three quarters of a length in 1:58. Sirius Star got up for place, and Saulsbrook Jessie was third. The judges investigated Plante’s stretch drive but ruled that there were no sufficient grounds for disqualification.

Smoke N Reactor N has now won eight of her 62 lifetime appearances and earned more than $65,000. She’s now three-for-four for Plante since he took over ownership and training duties on Mar. 4. Plante guided the Auckland Reactor mare to her first win since moving to Canada.

Letstaketothesky scored in the second co-feature, sliding out of the pocket late and sneaking by to capture the extended distance conditioned trot.

Driver Anthony Haughan contested the early lead with her but ultimately settled for the two-hole and followed Twin B Hugs through the quarter in :29.1 and half in 1:00. Letstaketothesky was bottled up in the pocket going to three-quarters in 1:30.4. First-up Twin B Hugs (Paul Mackenzie) drifted out just enough to allow Haughan enough room to squeeze his charge through traffic and get up for the win.

Letstaketothesky got up to win by a neck in 2:09.2 over a mile and a sixteenth. Twin B Hugs was second, and Black Seven (George Ketros) was third best.

Letstaketothesky is now three-for-26 lifetime with just shy of $50,000 in earnings for owners David and Ben Holliday of Mount Forest. They bred the four-year-old by Wheeling N Dealin; David trains.

Also on the card, the four-year-old Muscle Mass gelding Rubbleonthedouble broke his maiden in race two in 2:04.3 with Haughan in the bike. The Holliday Duo also own, train, and bred him.

The Raceway at Western Fair will likely not return for at least four weeks as the province of Ontario will move into lockdown on Saturday, Apr. 3 at 12:01 a.m EDT.

For full race results, click here.