Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Lis Mara Wins Canadian Pacing Derby

August 18, 2007

LisMaraPacingDerby07

     Lis Mara & driver Brian Sears

The defending winner, Lis Mara, with Brian Sears in the sulky, hauled down Mister Big in deep stretch to post a 1-1/4 length score in a thrilling renewal of the C$737,000 Canadian Pacing Derby, Canada's oldest harness race, on Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack.

Benefiting from some blistering early fractions of :25.3 for the quarter and :52.4 at the half, set by Total Truth while pressed by Tigerama, Lis Mara sat a patient fifth until the field of the finest older pacers on the continent turned for home.

It was then that the 2-1 second choices, Mister Big and driver Dave Miller, powered up to take command before bracing for a challenge from the even money race favorite. Sears had Lis Mara rolling mid-stretch and edged away, powerfully near the wire in posting a 1:49.3 mile.

The veteran Boulder Creek, currently the richest pacer in training, rallied and finished third, two lengths behind the winner, and overcame the 10-hole.

"It worked out pretty good since we're going to get our picture taken," Sears said. "You know, whenever there's a horse parked on the outside you know you're going to have to go earlier than you want. We had to come when we did. He raced great tonight. We're thrilled with the victory. I knew they were racing pretty hard up front. I was able to get Dave (Miller) in front of me, and I figured he'd take me wherever I needed to go. It's a real long, hard season, and to keep a horse sharp week in and week out is very demanding. No question he's a great horse."

Lis Mara, a 5-year-old son of Cambest, became the first to win back-to-back Canadian Pacing Derbies since Indian Alert in 1987 and 1988. Last year was a banner campaign for Lis Mara. as he was named the top older pacer in Canada and the United States, cranking out 10 wins and five seconds in 17 outings and earning nearly $1 million, highlighted by victories in the Canadian Pacing Derby and Breeders Crown.

It was his eighth win in 13 starts this year as he avenged his loss to Mister Big, who had upset him in the U.S. Pacing Championship on August 4 at the Meadowlands. The Erv Miller-trained Lis Mara had entered the Derby fresh from a scintillating score in last week's elimination, when he posted a :25.3 final quarter while circling the field from last place at the head of the stretch.

Tonight, he was much closer to the front. Lis Mara also races for a special cause, as his owners, Louis “Andy” Willinger of Louisville, Ky. and Mike Gulotta, racing as MJG Racing Stables of Annandale, N.J., began earmarking a portion of the horse's earnings last year for a program known as Food for the Poor. The funds have been used to build homes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for the impoverished, and already a dozen homes have been constructed on the appropriately named Lis Mara Drive.

Lis Mara joins the Who's Who of the pacing world, including such past Canadian Pacing Derby winners as Albatross, Rambling Willie, Cam Fella, Artsplace, Western Ideal, and Gallo Blue Chip. As the for the balance of the season, his connections indicated that the upcoming American-National at Balmoral Park in Chicago would be the horse's swan song before retiring to stud.

$737,000 Canadian Pacing Derby Mohawk Raceway
PP Horse                          Driver
3 Lis Mara                          B Sears
7 Mister Big                        David Miller
10 Boulder Creek                Daniel Dube
5 Western Shore                 Mark Macdonald
8 Took Hanover                  John Campbell
1 Total Truth                       R Pierce
6 Timesareachanging          George Brennan
2 Doonbeg                         J Jamieson
9 Mypanmar                     Jack Moiseyev
4 Tigerama                        R Zeron
25.3      52.4      1:21.4     1:49.3