by Ashley Mayotte, WEG communications

Toronto, ON — Driver Scott Zeron guided Mintoes to victory in the first race, kicking off the fall/winter Standardbred meet on Monday night (Oct. 3) at Woodbine Racetrack.

The 7-year-old gelding scored his second triumph of the season in 35 outings for owner and trainer Les Fuller.

New Image Media photo

Mintoes was a 1:56.3 winner for Scott Zeron in the opening race of the meet.

Jojo Bingbing (Phil Hudon) was the tempo-setter. The 5-year-old mare held the lead through fractions of :27, :56.1 and 1:25.2. Mintoes, a son of CR Renegade-Oakys Mint, rallied from off the pace to capture the claiming handicap event by a neck in a new lifetime mark of 1:56.3. Power Shot (Jason Brewer) finished second and Solar Kash (Mario Baillargeon) was third.

The bay notched his 12th lifetime victory in 150 starts, increasing his career earnings to $172,695.

Zeron, who finished second to Jody Jamieson in Mohawk’s driver standings, hopes that he can continue to find the winner’s circle while at Woodbine.

“At the beginning of the year, I started out not knowing whether or not I was going to try and make a stand at the WEG circuit,” said the Oakville resident. “So for the first few months it was a little soft and that was when we transitioned over to Mohawk and then it really picked up. I’ve been in almost every race and it’s been going really well. Hopefully I can continue that and bring the horses I had at Mohawk over to Woodbine and have the same success.”

Zeron admits he is excited about retuning to the Rexdale oval.

“It’s like city racing,” he said. “It’s where there are some hardcore handicappers and people screaming in the stands. You also have fast racing. It is definitely the place for speed.”

Zeron ended the night with a driving double. He won the seventh race with the Cal Campbell-trained Fredsabulldog (1:53.4).

Woodbine saw an increase in its fall/winter meet opening handle. Monday’s handle was C$1,293,288, which is greater than last year’s opening handle of C$1,035,220. Woodbine Entertainment Group’s feature wager of the night, the C$50,000 guaranteed pool early Pick-4, had a total pool of C$66,058.

Live harness racing returns Thursday night (Oct. 6) with a first race post time of 7:30 p.m. The 11-race program will feature a pair of Ontario Sires Stakes Gold eliminations for 2-year-old trotting fillies.