The Leamington Fair kicked off on Friday featuring a 10-race card of harness racing, which saw Futurity Seelster go wire-to-wire to win the final $1,000 trot in track record time
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Futurity Seelster ($11.50) and Jeff O’Brien left from Post 5 and carved out fractions of :31.3, 1:02 and 1:32.2 with Cds Eldorado (Marc Lepage) applying pressure for most of the mile. The seven-year-old mare refused to surrender to her challenger as she lowered the former track record for aged trotting mares of 2:04.4 set by Born To Speed to 2:03.2. The time was also a lifetime best for the daughter of Berndt Hanover-Fishing Hill. Cds Eldorado finished second with Gretzky Lavec (Beverly Heywood) third.
O’Brien also trains and owns Futurity Seelster with partners Eldon and Carol Wettlaufer and Pamela Kampers of St. Thomas, ON. The victory was her second of the year in 14 outings and fourth lifetime bumping her earnings to $53,301.
In other action, Lrs See Ya Later turned in two winning performances for Andrea Leon of Maidstone, ON. The homebred five-year-old Rambaran Gothic Road mare opened the card with a victory in 2:03.3 and was back in to go in the fifth race, which she won in 2:02.4. She is now two-for-five on the year with a total of three victories lifetime and $5,275 in earnings.
Chips A Lloyd also doubled up on the card for driver Mark Williams and owner-trainer James Little of Windsor, ON. The four-year-old son of Cam Terrific-Chips Gal captured the second race in 2:03.1 and the sixth race in 1:59.3 for his first two wins in 11 starts this year. Lifetime, the bay gelding has won six times and has banked $11,063.
To view Friday’s results, click here.