Southwind Renata, a four-year-old trotting mare conditioned by Anders Wolden of Moffat, Ontario, has visited the winner�s circle in her last three starts, including the first leg of the Lifetime Dream Trotting Series for four-year-old non-winners of $100,000 (as of October 31st) last Monday at Woodbine. Now the New Jersey-bred mare with the German owner (Angela Hahn of Berlin) is looking to sweep the series, but she�ll face stiff competition from recent American import, Fighting Filly, who also won a division of the Lifetime Dream first leg last week, and Lovely Louann, who was second to Southwind Renata in their contest that same night. They�ll meet in race #2, post time 7:41 p.m...

Striking Pockets, a Dan Martin trainee by Striking Sahbra, will also be looking to duplicate her victory in the second $20,000 split (race #4, 8:24 p.m.). The distaff trotter has been no worse than third in her last seven starts, and is rated at 3-1 in the morning line. But don�t discount Sportyportia, who was a gutsy second in her division last week and is currently ranked as the 5-2 favourite.

The $54,000 (est.) final of the Lifetime Dream series will go on January 21 at Woodbine.
 

Striking Pockets Strikes Again

TORONTO, ON, January 14 � Striking Pockets struck with authority in the $20,000 second leg of the Lifetime Dream Trotting Series tonight, setting herself up for a possible sweep of the three-part series.

The daughter of Striking Sahbra � Bisou Francais enjoyed a perfect second-over trip under the guidance of Rick Zeron, to overtake a tenacious Tymal Francesca in the stretch and surge to the wire in 1:57.2. A gutsy late rush from Winnie the Who (Paul MacDonell) came a neck short, while Psyche Unseen came from well out of it to grab third.

"She's getting confident and she�s getting stronger too. She's getting to be more of a mare than a filly now," said Zeron. "I was happy Jody (Jamieson, with Dynamic Lavec) stepped out in front of me down the backstretch instead of me coming first-up and having to fight them off, because if I�d had to come first-up then Paul (MacDonell, with Winnie The Who) probably would have come on my back and beat me at the wire. I would have had to use my mare up a little too much.

�I was dragged to the head of the lane and she was good from there."

Striking Pockets is trained by Daniel Martin for the M T Pockets Stable of Pompano Beach, Florida.

In the first split, favoured Southwind Renata made a break before the gate and was never a factor, leaving Tony O�Sullivan trainee, Lovely Louann to romp to a one-and-a-half length front-end victory over Matriarch and Fighting Filly in 1:58.3.

The chestnut daughter of Valley Victor, who was second to Southwind Renata in the first leg of the Lifetime Dream a week ago, now has three wins in 26 starts, and a bankroll of $57,397 for owners L And L Devisser LLC of Holland, Michigan.

Driver Chris Christoforou remarked, �I thought Jody (Jamieson) might come back around with Fighting Filly, but I didn�t see him so I just kept going. They cut pretty decent fractions out, and my filly raced quite well. She�s versatile. She can race from anywhere, and she proved that tonight. Last week, she was more off the pace, tonight she was on the front, and she raced well both times.�

The $55,200 Lifetime Dream Trotting Series will be featured next Monday night at Woodbine.
 

Speed Bomb In Glorys Comet Shocker

Toronto, January 19, 2023 -- It was bombs away in Saturday�s $86,000 Glorys Comet Trotting Series Final at Woodbine when Speed Bomb connected at odds of 40-1 for driver Jody Jamieson in 1:54.4.

The victory spoiled the attempt at a series sweep for Chick N Tell who got away slowly from post two and then was mired in traffic for much of the mile.

In the meantime, Jamieson had Speed Bomb leaving alertly from post nine and found a good seat early in mid-pack as pacesetter Abbey Road C put up the first half of :56.3 with Gettindownanddirty sitting second and Armbro Chronicle starting the outside flow from third.

As the field entered the last turn, the pocket sitter made a break in stride as the top pair began to pick up the tempo. At that point, Night Shade, who was perfectly positioned second over, also rolled into a break. That allowed Jamieson a seam at the inside and he brought Speed Bomb to the outside to follow Armbro Chronicle as they went past three-quarters in 1:24.3.

Armbro Chronicle was finally able to wear down Abbey Road C, but was unable to hold off the onrushing Speed Bomb who lit up the board at $83.90 on the nose. Armbro Chronicle was able to salvage second over Reve D�Amerik. Chick N Tell came flying late to finish fourth.

Saturday�s win was the first of the season in three starts for the five-year-old son of Master Lavec - Mighty J C who is trained by Ben Baillargeon. The victory boosted his lifetime earnings to more than $360,000 for the Slaughter Racing Stable Llc. of Kentucky and Thomas Davis of Pennsylvania.