Hopedale Paris went the distance and did it with authority Saturday at Charlottetown Driving Park. With trainer Joey Pineau at the lines, the 2-1 favourite captured the $1,000 endurance test, a 1-1/2 mile pace
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Hopedale Paris made the lead after the opening quarter and remained in control from that point on. The six-year-old son of Towel Me-Magic In Paris won by nine and a half lengths in 3:09.1.
Champ Of Mischief (Jason Hughes) and Jdf (Brodie MacPhee) finished back in second and third.
Hopedale Paris’s 12th victory bumped his bankroll to $17,447 for owner and breeder Kenneth MacInnis of Charlottetown.
In the $1,400 Open Trot, a costly break made by favourite Caliban Hanover (Corey MacPherson) early on left the door wide open for a 7-1 upset by Katies Victory.
The S Js Photo-Questionable Katie mare and driver Ken Murphy sat fifth while Dunmore Alpha (Edward Smallwood) put up stations of :31, 1:02.1 and 1:34.2 with Cavalry Office (Marc Campbell) applying pressure on the outside. Katies Victory then unleashed a :31-second closing quarter to sweep past the field and stop the clock in 2:06 over a track rated “good” and three seconds off.
Inscribed (Harold Shepherd) finished three-quarters of a length behind with A C Dream (Brodie MacPhee) rounding out the top three.
Local resident Clark Smith owns and trains the winning five-year-old, who earned her sixth victory and pushed her lifetime earnings to $5,309.
In other action, Yankee Sun made a bold move on route to the opening quarter take the lead and held off a late challenge by Pans O Silver to win the Saturday afternoon feature.
The nine-year-old son of Yankee Cam-Soleil Groover, in line to the 2009 Maritime driving champ Kenny Arsenault, stopped the timer in 1:59.4 to record his first win of the 2010 season and his 55th lifetime win, pushing his earnings to $108,697 for the BM Stable of Grande-Digue, N.B.
The leader board changed a couple of times when Island Jazzystar (Corey MacPherson) in the bike, took command briefly at the three-quarter marker then Pans O Silver (Brodie MacPhee) struck the front at the head of lane before Yankee Sun dug in once again to reclaim the lead and the lion's share of the $2,400 purse.
Pans O Silver finished second with Tanks A Lot (Brian MacPhee), who tracked mid-pack for most of the race, closed hard to complete the triactor.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from Harness Racing PEI)