MILTON, July 9, 2019 – Dancer Hall delivered a career-best performance to get up and win Tuesday’s $34,000 Preferred Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The five-year-old Rod Boyd trainee was making his second start after a four-and-a-half-month layoff and muscled by favourite Musical Rhythm in deep stretch to win in 1:51.1.
Driven by James MacDonald, Dancer Hall left from post-seven in a field of seven and got away fourth. Hemi Seelster stormed out to the lead and posted fractions of :27 and :56.
Dancer Hall angled out just after the half and was moving up on the outside before Musical Rhythm moved out of the two-hole just before three-quarters. Hemi Seelster hit a wall just after reaching the third-marker in 1:23.4.
In the stretch, Musical Rhythm had a pair of lengths on Dancer Hall with an eighth of a mile remaining. Dancer Hall took dead aim at his target and tracked down Musical Rhythm late to win by half a length.
P L Jill finished third, while Free Willy Hanover was fourth.
Owned by 1187422 Ontario Inc, Dancer Hall was winless in five starts prior to Tuesday’s outing. The Boyd trainee had a tremendous season in 2018, winning 10 of 23 starts and earning $293,272.
Tuesday’s Preferred score increases Dancer Hall’s career numbers to 19 wins and $426,582. The clocking of 1:51.1 knocked over a second off his previous career-best.
Dancer Hall paid $18.70 to win.
Live racing resumes Thursday evening at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Post time is 7:10 p.m.