Western Fair: Foiled Again, Betterthancheddar headline $150,000 Molson

As with most of the older pacing stakes this year, Friday’s $150,000 Molson Pace at Western Fair came up tough. Foiled Again, the richest pacer in history, is joined by the ultra-talented Betterthancheddar to head a strong field with over $11 million in lifetime earnings.

Foiled Again is seeking his third consecutive Molson title. After a strong Levy Series showing and a huge effort to be second in the $450,000 Final, Foiled Again finished a meager sixth in his most recent pair of starts. Despite the poor results, regular driver Yannick Gingras is feeling good about his chances come Friday night.

“I don’t think he was 100%, but I don’t think the races were his kind of races,” said Gingras. “He likes to be first up or near the lead.”

Having drawn the rail, Gingras left little doubt about his tactics with the Ron Burke trainee.

“We’re going down the road and I don’t think anybody can beat us,” said Gingras, before giving some deserved respect to Betterthancheddar. “If he gets off on the right foot behind me, we’ll fight it out down the lane and see who is best.”

[DRF HARNESS: Sign Up for the FREE DRF Harness Newsletter Today!]

Betterthancheddar will make his first start of the year in the Molson after a stellar injury-shortened 2012 campaign in which he won 9 of 11 races and $799,936. The Casie Coleman trainee will start from the second tier right behind Foiled Again, but his presence for the marquee event at Western Fair was hardly anticipated.

“It was our intention to race in a Preferred at Mohawk, but it didn’t fill,” said Coleman, who was really happy with the way Cheddar qualified at Mohawk. “Right up to Sunday, we didn’t intend to race. But after looking over how some of the likely contenders have raced recently, we thought it wouldn’t be too bad of a first start. It turns out it came up a tough race.”

Aracache Hanover seems likely to garner some pari-mutuel attention as post time nears. Despite finishing a disappointing tenth in the $200,000 Dan Patch last Saturday, he was forced to come from off the pace that night. Like Foiled Again, the 6-year-old son of Dragon Again does his best work near the lead and should have every opportunity to stay close from post two.

Rounding out the field is: State Treasurer (post 3), Versado (post 4), Rock On Moe (post 5), Keystone Velocity (post 6) and A Rocknroll Dance (post 7).

The Molson is carded as the final race on the 12-race program at Western Fair. First race post time is 7:05 pm.