p,5, 1:48.2s ($1,101,173)
Presidential Ball – Keystone Trinidad – Albatross
2009 summary: 21 – 14-5-0 ($496,692)
Trainer: Gord Irwin
Driver: Paul MacDonell
Owner: Irwin Stables Inc. (ON)
Breeders: Gord Irwin (ON), Murray Ross (ON)
The compact son of Presidential Ball - Keystone Trinidad was a racing machine in 2009, making 14 visits to the winner’s circle from just 21 trips postward. In the process, he eclipsed the $1 million marker by virtue of his $496,692 in season’s earnings.
Yet another Cinderella story hailing from the Gord Irwin stable of Cobourg, Ontario, Bigtime Ball blossomed into a bonafide top class performer.
Bigtime Ball ruled the local scene, winning at the Open level on 10 separate occasions. He also captured the $115,000 Masters Series final at Georgian Downs after establishing a Canadian record of 1:49 the previous week in the second leg.
He also enjoyed success against Grand Circuit competition as evidenced by a second-place finish in a leg of the Classic Series at Mohawk Racetrack in early June and a runner-up effort in his Canadian Pacing Derby elimination on August 29.
In his final start of the season at Woodbine, Bigtime Ball defeated Art Official and Shark Gesture in a $100,000 Invitational Pace in 1:50.3.
p,6, 1:48.1s ($1,971,719)
Cams Card Shark – Simple Gesture – Western Hanover
2009 summary: 29 – 7-7-1 ($963,890)
Trainer: Larry Remmen
Drivers: George Brennan, Tim Tetrick, Daniel Dube
Owners: Norm Smiley (FL), Gerald Smiley (QC), T L P Stable (NJ)
Breeders: Amy Higgins (NC), Linwood Higgins (ME)
Shark Gesture has fashioned one of the best comeback stories of the past decade in the sport of harness racing.
After missing a year and a half from the races, the son of Cams Card Shark - Simple Gesture resurfaced at the end of 2008 for new trainer Larry Remmen and entered 2009 with some question marks hanging over his head.
The strapping pacer quickly answered those when he handled the sport’s best with a 1:49 victory in the $210,000 Graduate final at The Meadowlands on May 10.
A month later, he showed that was no fluke by upsetting in wire-to-wire fashion in the lucrative $688,000 William Haughton Memorial final at The Meadowlands in a sensational 1:48.2.
Shark Gesture used similar tactics to trounce rivals in the storied Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack in September 5th in a sparkling time of 1:48.1 - a new lifetime mark for the six-year-old. The lion’s share of the $685,000 purse improved his seasonal take to $963,890, making him the top money-winning older pacer in North America for the year and boosting his career earnings to just over $1.9 million.
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