Metro Pace winner and 1-5 favourite Stag Party tried to hold command through the stretch but gave way as Keystone Concrete catapulted through the center of the course to catch pocket-popping Bettors Wish and claimed victory in the $225,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers.
Bettors Wish went to the lead with Stag Party away second and Twin B Watching third through a :27.2 opening quarter. Stag Party soon pulled pocket and slowly circled to the top as Bettors Wish stretched the chalk to a :55 half.
Stag Party cruised on the lead rounding the final turn while stablemate Better Up tipped first over and moved into second. Bettors Wish raced locked at the rail third past three-quarters in 1:24 and eventually shook loose as Stag Party paced leg wearily on the lead. Keystone Concrete, riding the rail, fanned towards the grandstand side and fired to the wire, putting a nose in front of Bettors Wish to win. Stag Party chased in third with Bronx Seelster fourth.
“It’s just amazing, really,” winning trainer Rob Fellows said after the race. “You don’t win from there, but it’s the pacers, so they go fast—and they were working on the front. Even though the fractions weren’t summer fractions, the :55 half was a good half for two-year-olds tonight, so you hope they come back to you and they did. He got away in a tough spot, stayed in and it all worked out.”
Owned by Yolanda Fellows, Arpad Szabo and Blair Corbeil, Keystone Concrete won his fifth race from seven starts, earning $214,850. Louis Philippe-Roy drove the Bettors Delight colt and paid $22.20 to win.