Leave It To Luther showed his victories in the first two legs of the Ontario Sired Harvest Series were not flukes with an impressive score in the $51,100 final on Saturday, Nov. 25 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Leaving from post nine for driver James MacDonald, Leave It To Luther was asked to flash early speed and place himself forwardly. He wasn’t alone, however, and was pushed three-wide into that opening turn as Sans Souci (Mike Whelan) and Full Horse (Chris Christoforou) also accelerated off the car. Sans Souci yielded to Full Horse after a :27.2 opening panel, with Leave It To Luther continuing to drive on and eventually clear just before the :56.2 half.
There was no respite for Leave It To Luther as Bets Show Off (Brett MacDonald) pressured first-over, providing a second-over tow to favoured Arizona Jackson (Jonathan Drury). After a 1:25.2 third station, Drury angled into the three path and loomed the danger on the hard-used leader.
When asked by MacDonald, Leave It To Luther seemingly said ‘leave it to me‘ and closed assertively with a :28.1 final panel to win by three parts of a length in 1:53.1. Full Horse rallied from the pocket to edge Arizona Jackson for second.
Sophomore pacing colt Leave It To Luther (Betterthancheddar-T R Lexus Cam) is a homebred owned Courtney Pollard of Lucan, Ont. The win was his eighth of the year and 10th lifetime, boosting his bankroll to $71,491. As the 5-2 second choice, Leave It To Luther paid $7.30 to win.
Ricardo ended the five-race win streak of favoured Nothingbutadreamer by virtue of a front-stepping score in the $49,900 Ontario Sired Harvest Series final for three-year-old trotters.
Sent off as the 7-2 second choice with driver Doug McNair at the controls, Ricardo made the lead early and then didn’t relinquish it. After fractions of :28.1, :58.3 and 1:27.3, Ricardo stepped home in :27.4 for the 1:55.2 decision. Cactustotheclouds (Tyler Borth) made a late bid from the pocket but came up a half-length short. Nothingbutadreamer was no factor in this mile, finishing third.
Owned by breeder Glengate Farms of Erin, Ont. along with Tim Murray of Shawville, Que. and David Knapp of Waterloo, Ont., Ricardo (Resolve – Lucy) picked up his fifth win of his year and career to push his lifetime earnings to $78,596. Gregg McNair trains the trotter, who paid $9.00 to win.
(Standardbred Canada)
