Odds-on favourites lived up to their billing in both $10,520 Atlantic Sires Stakes "A" events for three-year-old pacing fillies on Canada Day (July 1) at Inverness Raceway, as both R Es Shabla ($3.90) and Royaltywestho ($3.10) converted in pillar-to-post fashion.
In the first division (race six), Lloyd Parsons's R Es Shabla and Michael McGuigan sprinted to a clear lead from post 4 and were unchallenged through comfortable splits of :29.3, :59.2 and 1:28.3 before drawing well clear on the final turn. The daughter of Pang Shui amassed a six-length lead on the far turn. She ultimately bested Chocolate Terror (Darren Crowe) by 5-1/4 lengths in 1:56.3; Maybeitsmaybelline (Gilles Barrieau) rallied mildly to take third from a tiring Saulsbrook Coral (David Dowling).
For Leonard McGuigan trainee R Es Shabla, the win was two-fifths of a second away from her lifetime best, which she took at Truro Raceway in stakes action last week. It was the sixth victory in nine starts this year, and the ninth of her career.
Walter Cheverie used similar tactics in the second division (race nine) with Royaltywestho, but after rating a soft :59.2 first half, the daughter of Westwardho Hanover would have to work a bit harder than her sixth-race counterpart. Woodmere Wyldstyle (Corey MacPherson) made steady first-over gains from midfield through the third quarter to force a :29.2 sectional, but Royaltywestho dug in to hold her ground by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.2. Elm Grove Misty (Earl Smith) chased from the pocket to finish third.
Trainer Joseph Baxter and Gregory Francis share ownership of 12-time winner Royaltywestho, who missed the lifetime mark she likewise earned last week at Truro by a fifth of a second.
The lone $2,500 "B" division saw Elm Grove Maddy ($3.50) and Redmond Doucet coast to a pillar-to-post 2:00.1 win. Nicholas White trains the Stonebridge Terror filly for Stephen Morton.
In the $1,150 winners-over pacing finale, Doubleshotascotch ($4.60) also made every pole, taking his 40th career win in 1:59.2. Brett LeBlanc drove the 12-year-old Dragon Again gelding for owner-trainer John MacDonald.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results – Inverness Raceway.