Evenin Of Pleasure earned his second straight victory at Woodbine Racetrack while Grand Circuit stakes winner Il Sogno Dream made his second Ontario start this year a winning one in Saturday night's co-featured Preferred events.
In the $34,000 Preferred Pace, defending class champion Evenin Of Pleasure ($6) and driver Sylvain Filion tracked Melmerby Beach through fractions of :25.2, :54.4 and 1:23.4 before pacing through along the pylons and digging in to win over the late-closers. The five-year-old son of Dragon Again prevailed by a head in 1:51 ahead of first over Arthur Blue Chip with Nirvana Seelster rallying from second over in the three-path and Ellis Park out wide in a four-across finish.
Richard Moreau trains Evenin Of Pleasure, who is riding a three-race win streak that began in Western Fair Raceway's Oktoberfest Classic on Oct. 9. The pacer has earned six wins from 25 starts and over $200,000 in purses this year for Gestion J Y Blais Inc. of Montreal, Que.
The locally-owned Il Sogno Dream ($4.10) took his second shot at Woodbine's $34,000 Preferred Handicap Trot after earning victories in the Dayton Trotting Derby and Allerage Farm Open Trot.
Driver Trevor Henry had Il Sogno Dream positioned fourth after his assigned outside post seven start while Exemplar fronted the field through opening panels of :26.3 and :55.3. Henry then sent the favourite first over heading to three-quarters in 1:24.3 and overtook Exemplar down the stretch to score by one length in 1:52.4. Windsun Revenge finished third off a pocket trip.
Il Sogno Dream was trained by Ohio-based conditioner Chris Beaver until moving into Victor Puddy's care for his Woodbine campaign. The four-year-old son of Cantab Hall has won six of his 17 races this year and $261,729 in purses for owners Bill Manes and Randy Christopher of Rockwood, Ont., Dan Manes of Erin, Ont. and Leonard Christopher of Acton, Ont.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.