John MacDonald comes into the final two weeks of the meet with several ultra-sharp performers in the shedrow.
Among MacDonald’s driving and training wins last week were Open Trot victor Valottalove; Open Pace upsetter Capt Jack Hanover and the streaking Tommy Shelby.
Valottalove has established himself as the king of the trotters with three straight impressive victories, including the Gary Budahn last month and a sizzling eight-length score in last weekend’s Open Trot with a 1:54 1/5 final clocking.
That makes the son of Love You the favorite for the Stan Bergstein Trot, which will be decided on closing night, Friday, May 2.
Capt Jack Hanover was the longest price on the board in last week’s Open Pace, but MacDonald put them to sleep on the front end.
He then had enough left to hold safe in a blanket finish over divisional kingpins Alilthundadownunda and Its Pointless.
Meanwhile, Tommy Shelby is proving to be one of the best claims in recent memory with a five-race win streak in tow that has seen him go coast-to-coast in back-to-back 1:52 4/5 tours of Cal Expo.
