Golden Receiver doubled up in the Spring Pacing Championship with a wire-to-wire effort at Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday night.
In round two's first division worth $60,000, first leg winner Golden Receiver and Randy Waples charged to command from Post 6 with outsider Aracache Hanover (Doug McNair) hot on his heels, but settling into the two-hole around the first turn.
Golden Receiver hit the first marker in speedy :25.4 before taking a big second quarter breather. He reached the half in :56.3 and then three-quarters in 1:24.4 while Bettors Reward (Stephane Bouchard) moved first up from fifth.
Golden Receiver was still more than a length clear as he entered the stretch and sprinted home for the 1:51.1 triumph. Aracache Hanover came in second and Classic Rock Nroll (Scott Zeron) finished third.
Golden Receiver paid $2.90 to win for the third consecutive time as the 5-2 favourite. The Village Jove-Royal Gold gelding is now seven-for-eight in his seven-year-old campaign with $183,850 earned, thanks in part to a sweep of the Presidential Series at Meadowlands Racetrack early this year. The career winner of 43 races and $837,925 is trained by Mark Harder and owned by Stable 45, Richard Taylor, Stephen Springer, and Nina Simmonds.
Melvyn got up late in the mile to score over slight favourite St Elmos Hero in the second division.
Firing from the outside post position, Camaes Fellow (Doug McNair) took control of the field off the gate and put up a :26.4 opening quarter ahead of Machal Jackson (J.R. Plante) with Kyle Major (Billy Davis Jr.) parked out and rolling.
Kyle Major cleared to command just past the first quarter, but was confronted by even-money St Elmo Hero (Scott Zeron), who advanced from fourth down the backstretch. St Elmo Hero edged past Kyle Major at the :54.3 half and drew clear en route to the third quarter pole. He reached that mark in 1:21.4 with Machal Jackson advancing on the outside and the Luc Ouellette-driven Melvyn spotted second over.
St Elmo Hero opened up a couple lengths into the stretch, but Melvyn came charging home to win in a new lifetime mark of 1:49.4. St Elmo Hero was second with Mach Dreamer (Rick Zeron) coming on from last to show.
Melvyn paid $6.50 to win as the 2-1 second choice. The four-year-old Mannart Howard-CR Charisma gelding, who missed by just a head in the opening round to an absent Sparky Mark, earned his second win of the year in eight starts and doubled his seasonal earnings to $60,160 for trainer-owner Rita Polese. The win was his 10th lifetime and pushed his bankroll to $156,550.
Female Open pacers also battled it out in their $50,000 weekly event in which Modern Connection rallied home from second last to score a 20-1 upset in 1:51 for driver Scott Zeron and trainer David Menary.
Bay Girl (Paul MacDonell) rolled to command during a :26.2 opening quarter, but Bullet Point (Jody Jamieson) pulled the pocket and swept to command down the backstretch, reaching the midway point in :54.
She opened up by three lengths en route to the 1:22 third quarter station, but gave way down the lane to popular British invader Laneside Lexus (Billy Davis Jr.), who had won her first four races in Canada between February and March.
However, Modern Connection was full of late pace and rallied home from sixth to prevail by two lengths, shaving three-fifths of a second off her mark. Millionaire miss Voelz Hanover (Mario Baillargeon) also closed well from the back of the pack to grab second place honours over Laneside Lexus.
The Modern Art-Cambest Connection mare, who was moving up in class, paid $42.60 to win for the second (consecutive) time in six seasonal outings. Modern Connection now boasts 12 wins and $763,933 in earnings. The four-year-old is owned by Yousif Yousif and Ameer Najor.