Woodbine Racetrak
Sparky Mark earned his second consecutive sub-1:50 win in Preferred company at Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday night. The four-year-old son of Astreos-Luckbealadytonite has made a solid comeback climbing the classes since a six and a half month long layoff earlier this year, and lowered his lifetime mark taken last week in the Preferred 2 by one-fifth of a second to 1:49.1 in tonight’s $38,000 Preferred Pace.
Sparky Mark and driver Sylvan Filion blasted off the gate from the outside six-post and sprinted to the opening quarter in :26.2 before facing his first challenger. Millionaire pacer Aracache Hanover and Doug McNair pulled the pocket and pushed a head in front of Sparky Mark at the :54.4 half. Sparky Mark fought back and regained control by the next marker in 1:21.4. He then drew away to win by over two lengths with a :27.2 final frame. The popular Aracache Hanover held off Major Hottie and Keith Oliver for second place honors.
Sparky Mark paid $7.60 to win as the 5-2 second choice. The bay, trained by Mark Austin for owner-breeder Leo Thibodeau of Windsor, Ont., recorded his eighth win in 12 starts this year and pushed his seasonal earnings to $121,250.
