An upset minded Hp Forte made a late dash for the cash to nip pacesetter Sand Wyndham at the wire in the $14,800 Preferred Trot on Wednesday at Western Fair
Raceway.
With the inside advantage, last week’s winner Indiana Hall (Robert Shepherd) took control of the field off the gate and raced to the opening quarter in :30-seconds with Hp Forte and driver Ondrej Gois settling into fourth.
As the field headed in front of the grandstand, Sand Wyndham (Tom Strauss) made a big move from third rolling up to take over at the next marker in 1:01.
Sand Wyndham reached the third quarter station in 1:30.1 while the first over Flora Dream (Doug McNair) jumped it off. With the lane cleared, Gois angled Hp Forte off the pylons with perfect timing as Perfect Vacation (Mike Whelan) broke stride from third.
Down the stretch, Indiana Hall pulled the pocket but it was Hp Forte who prevailed on the far outside by a nose over Sand Wyndham in 2:01.2 over a 'good' track rated two seconds off. Indiana Hall finished a quarter length behind in third.
Hp Forte returned $26 to win. The six-year-old son of Muscles Yankee-H P Espoir is trained and owned by Ely Iversen of Moffat, Ont. His third win in eight seasonal starts lifted his bankroll to over $22,000 for 2011 and nearly $120,000 lifetime.
For Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Western Fair Raceway.