from RUS Ontario

London, ON — The Raceway at Western Fair opened up the Victorian Holiday weekend on Friday night (May 15) with race after race of excitement. Included on the Wall of Fame induction night for Camluck was the first Racing Under Saddle event of 2015.

Carded as race three, the race was a hotly contested battle for the top spot between 2014 late season diva Natalie Elliot riding Lexus Hawkeye and London local Brit Kennedy aboard Sas Warkentin.

Stepping off the gate in a determined fashion from post four, Elliot and Lexus Hawkeye landed on the front as the field reached the first turn, however Kennedy and Sas Warkentin rode close and tight to serve as a reminder that they wanted this win too.

These two teams traded vicious blows for the remainder of the mile with Lexus Hawkeye and Elliot giving one final push to arrive on the wire first. Sas Warkentin and Kennedy fought gamely throughout the mile but had to settle for second, with Lady Is A Pirate and rider Sarah Town overcoming a break behind the gate to get up and nab the third spot away from Callie Magoo and Sharleen MacDonald.

In addition to Camluck’s Wall of Fame induction and the RUS race, fans were also treated to two mini horse races and a meet and greet with the mini horse stars as well as a t-shirt toss to the youngsters and other prizes.

Confederation Cup night (May 17) at Flamboro Downs was the next stop on the RUS 2015 race tour and the night was perfect for racing. In front of a packed apron and with the racing strip perfectly manicured for speed that is exactly what the RUS race delivered.

Leaving sharply from post one, Massive Muscles and rider Riina Rekila wrestled the lead away from Santo Domingo and Sarah Town by only a neck as the pair streaked past the quarter timer in an eye popping :29.2.

The pair continued to breathe fire at one another for the rest of the mile with Rekila and Massive Muscles holding steady to win by a short quarter-length over the determined Town and Santo Domingo in a blistering 2:00.3 final time. Natalie Elliot and Thor Seelster made up serious ground to nab the third place money over Evelyn Harms and Twin B Excalibur.

In conjunction with the big night of events the RUS riders gave race goers a chance to chat and ask questions about racing under saddle, the horses, the equipment and even offer opinions on who might be the race winner.

RUS organizers want to send out thanks to all of the trainers and owners that have embraced this new side of racing and strongly encourage anyone that is interested to visit www.rusontario.com for more information as well as contact information for riders to come and prepare your horse to race in a RUS event.