Sophomore pacers and trotters starred in a quartet of Canadian Breeders Championships on Maple Leaf Trot night at Mohawk Racetrack

in which three-year-old trotting colt Daylon Magician turned in a dazzling 1:52.3 stakes record performance.

Elimination winner China Pearls kicked off the CBC action, providing driver Randy Waples with his first of three stakes wins on the card. Waples also won the featured $730,000 Maple Leaf Trot with San Pail and the $385,000 Roses Are Red Stakes with Dreamfair Eternal. China Pearls rallied from the backfield to snag the victory over pacesetter Peach Martini in the first $156,993 Canadian Breeders Championships for three-year-old trotting fillies.

Peach Martini (Rick Zeron) rolled up to take control of the field ahead of Magic Wheel (Joe Hudon Jr.) as they passed the opening quarter in :28-seconds. She proceeded to the half in :57.1 and three-quarters in 1:25.4 while Eagle Canada (Doug McNair) advanced first over from fifth and flushed out Magic Wheel from the pocket.

Peach Martini began to draw away from those fillies in the stretch, but a late kick from the Carmen Hie-trained China Pearls and Waples was too much for her to handle. China Pearls, who sat near the back of the pack for most of the mile, found room to shoot through and claim the victory in 1:54.4. Peach Martini finished second with Magic Wheel and Eagle Canada coming in third and fourth.

“She does have a really big kick so that part didn’t surprise me, but being so far back and them being so far away from me I didn’t know if she could track them down,” said Waples in the winner's circle. “But she’s a really good filly and she raced well last week. Carmen seems to have her right at the top of her game right now.

"Frankly, I just got lucky. I got pinched going out of there –- a horse landed alongside of me. It just really wasn’t looking good. Fortunately, a horse made a break around the last turn and kind of opened things up and she [China Pearls] was able to squeeze her way out and she got there first. She’s a really nice filly and I’m really happy for the owners and Carmen, they work hard for this.”

China Pearls paid $16.30 for the mild 7-1 upset. The daughter of Kadabra-Pure Sable is owned by Carman Hie Stable Inc. of Rockwood, Blake Anthony of Millgrove, J. Peter Kloepfer of Harley and Ted Murrell of Sharon, Ont. Unraced at two, she notched her third win in 10 starts and watched her earnings climb to over $136,000.

Monkey On My Wheel made a backstretch brush to command and cruised to victory in the next $142,678 Canadian Breeders Championship for three-year-old pacing fillies.

Modern Connection (Mark MacDonald) was the early leader through a :26.2 opening quarter with Village Janus (Scott Zeron) following and a parked out Epoxy Queen (Doug McNair) taking back to third ahead of Monkey On My Wheel and driver Jody Jamieson.

Jamieson sent elimination winner Monkey On My Wheel to command down the backstretch, clearing at the :55.3 half-mile mark. The daughter of Mach Three-Legislation opened up four lengths on the field by the next marker in 1:22.2 and cruised home to an open length victory in a career-best 1:50.3. Look Cheap (Robert Shepherd) closed for second and 56-1 shot Imagine Semalu (Sylvain Fillion) finished third.

“She can fall asleep on the front end so I wasn’t real confident when I saw her on the front, but she opened up there and got a jump on them and I think that was the difference down the lane,” said trainer Travis Umphrey, who co-owns the winning filly with Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont.

Umphrey noted that his filly handled the recent heat wave on Ontario well and came into the race in good form.

“We ran quite a bit of fluids through her all week and had a nice big fan in front of her stall, and she really handled retention well,” he said. “I was really happy with the way she came into the race tonight.”

Monkey On My Wheel paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favourite. The win was her second in a row in eight seasonal starts and lifted her earnings to over $153,000. The five-time career winner now boasts total earnings of more than $368,000.

Camaes Fellow converted from the pocket for a big surprise in the $149,643 Canadian Breeders Championship for three-year-old pacing colts as the longest shot on the board.

The son of Mach Three-Camae blasted to command from Post 9 during :26.2 opening quarter with Luc Ouellette at the lines, but gave way to Prodigal Seelster (Scott Zeron), who swept up from fourth down the backstretch.

Prodigal Seelster carved out middle splits of :55 and 1:22.3 before Camaes Fellow pulled the pocket down the stretch and got up to score in a career-best 1:50.2. Favourite Twin B Legend (Mike Saftic) closed well from the backfield for second over Prodigal Seelster -- both just a half-length behind the winner.

“This colt here, we weren’t expecting a lot from him this year, but he seems to be getting better all the time," said Ouellette, who shares ownership with trainer Chris Beaver and partner Larry Murrell of Toronto, Ont. "He’s got a long gait on him and the more the other horse went he just followed along. I just didn’t think we could go by, but I guess we did.”

Camaes Fellow returned $134 for the 66-1 upset. The win was his second of the season in 10 starts pushing his earnings over the $100,000 mark. The three-time winner now boasts career earnings of more than $136,000.

Daylon Magician wrapped up the Canadian Breeders Championships with a career-best and stakes record performance in the $146,755 final for three-year-old trotting colts.

Leaving from Post 9, Mr Joe Sixpack (Scott Zeron) fired to command during a :27.3 opening quarter before Lakefield (Trevor Ritchie) looped the leader and took over down the backstretch.

From there, driver Mike Saftic launched 3-5 favourite Daylon Magician first over from fourth and took control as they raced past the half in :57.

Daylon Magician cruised by the next marker in 1:24.2 before opening up four and a quarter lengths in the stretch to secure the victory in a dazzling 1:52.3 clocking, lowering Majestic Son’s stakes record by two-fifths of a second. The time of the mile was just one-fifth of a second off the track record. Lakefield finished second and Declrest Julian (Rick Zeron) was third.

"Jackie Mo [driver Jack Moiseyev] is down so I took him out for lunch on Wednesday and asked him to fill me on him," said Saftic after picking up the drive on Daylon Magician while his regular reinsman remains sidelined due to an injury. "He gave me a few pointers and he was right on. He's a nice colt and he went a big mile.

"He was good at the wire. I figured we were going to go [1]:53 and we were going to beat that maybe. It was a nice night. They were bouncing off this track and have been going good miles all night and I figured it would be right around there."

Daylon Magician paid $3.30 to win. The homebred son of Kadabra-Daylon Marvel, who notched his fifth win in seven starts this year and watched his seasonal earnings climb to over $220,000, is trained and owned by David Lemon of Komoka, Ont. He is now eight-for-14 this year with a $445,000-plus career bankroll.

For results from Saturday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.