by WFD Media Relations

London, ON — Evenin Of Pleasure was sent off at odds of 35-1 in tonight’s (May 27) C$150,000 Molson Pace, the signature race of The Raceway at Western Fair District. Luckily the horse didn’t read the tote board.

Jake MacDonald photo

Evenin Of Pleasure pulls a 35-1 shocker in the C$150,000 Molson Pace on Friday (May 27).

As the race got underway Mark MacDonald and Sunfire Blue Chip and Evenin Of Pleasure with Sylvain Filion up both vied for the early lead. Filion quickly decided to tuck in behind in second which proved to be the winning move.

Sunfire Blue Chip, looking to give MacDonald his first Molson Pace win in 10 tries, rattled off fractions of :26.3, :55.2 and 1:23 but was caught in the stretch by the garden spot sitting Evenin Of Pleasure who hit the wire first in 1:50.3. The time established a new track record, shaving a tick off the previous mark set by MacDonald and Tigerama in 2008.

Sunfire Blue Chip held for second after the impressive performance. McWicked claimed the show spot while All Bets Off and P H Supercam took the final two checks. State Treasurer, vying for his fourth straight Molson title, hit some traffic trouble as the field paced through the backstretch the second time and finished sixth.

“When I was able to get the two hole, I was hoping Mark would keep on going, which he did,” explained Filion minutes after the winner’s circle presentation. “My horse felt super good, around the last turn I knew he had a good shot and he gave all he could, he raced really well. Last time he raced (a sixth place finish in the Preferred at Mohawk on May 14) he came up real flat, they scoped him after the race and he wasn’t 100 percent. You have to give credit to Richard (trainer Richard Moreau) he did some work and my God he was good tonight.”

When asked if he was worried about race favorites, All Bets Off and State Treasurer, Filion responded: “I was just looking ahead of me and hoping I wouldn’t see them. I really don’t know what happened, all I know is we’re in the winner’s circle right now. It’s nice to see the crowd like this. It’s a great ambiance and I’m looking forward to coming back.”

It was the first win in 2016 for Evenin Of Pleasure, a 6-year-old son of Dragon Again owned by Gestion JY Blais Inc., of Montreal, Quebec.

Tonight’s effort put his lifetime earnings over the $600,000 mark. He paid $74.30 to win.