The Spinmeister tops field in Western Canada Handicap

The Spinmeister ($12.60) took advantage of a fast and contested pace to win the $48,620 Western Canada Handicap for 3-year-olds Saturday at Northlands Park.

The Spinmeister broke sharply, but Shannon Beauregard eased him off the pace in the six-furlong sprint that saw six horses start. Going into the first turn, he had one horse beat, Go Max. The Spinmeister hugged the rail until Beauregard asked him to engage the leaders midway on the stretch turn.

He was full of momentum coming out of the turn while going four wide and out-finished a five-wide Go Max to win by a neck. It was another neck back to Private Money, who made an early move at the quarter pole while going three wide.

“He relaxed, settled nicely, and finished strong,” said Beauregard.

The 1-2 favorite Gross Misconduct battled through quick fractions of 22.44 seconds and 45.87 before tiring to finish fifth. He fell, pulling up after the race with Rico Walcott aboard, but got back up and walked off the track. Walcott booked off the last race, but according to his agent, Bob Fowlis, he didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

The final time was 1:11.46.

The Spinmeister is trained by Rob Chabot.

On Friday night, Walcott guided Honey Candy to an 11 1/2-length win in the $54,700 Chariot Chaser Handicap for 3-year-old fillies.

The Robertino Diodoro trainee covered the six furlongs in 1:11.05 and paid $2.90 as the heavy favorite in the four-horse field.