Two-time Maple Leaf Trot champion San Pail earned his fourth consecutive victory beating out Breeders Crown eligibles Slave Dream and All Cantab in Saturday’s $42,000 Open Trot at Mohawk Racetrack while Keystone Horatio notched his third straight win
in the co-featured Open Pace.
In this week’s Open Trot, San Pail got away fourth and waited until the third quarter before making his winning move.
All Cantab (Trevor Ritchie) cleared the lead around the turn but a parked out Slave Dream (Sylvain Filion) swept up to take over at the first quarter pole in :27.1. The Nat Ray and Frank Ryan champion carved out middle splits of :55.2 and 1:25.1 before Randy Waples sent 1-5 favourite San Pail up alongside the leader from fourth. San Pail then opened up by three lengths in the stretch as he unleashed a :28.3 final frame over a track rated ‘good’ and one second slow, eventually stopping the clock in 1:54.1. Slave Dream narrowed the winner’s margin to one and a quarter length while All Cantab rounded out the top three.
San Pail paid $2.60 to win. The six-year-old gelded son of San Pellegrino-Village Beauty has won 10 of his 12 starts this year while earning $593,500 for trainer Rod Hughes, who co-owns with breeder Glenn Van Camp of Port Perry, Ont. San Pail has banked almost $1.65 million in his career.
San Pail was not originally made eligible to the Breeders Crown, and his connections chose not to pay the $75,000 supplemental fee. Slave Dream has drawn Post 2 in next Saturday’s $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot at Pocono Downs while All Cantab will start from Post 8.
In the matching Open Pace, Waples engineered another winning trip aboard $1.5 million winner Keystone Horatio.
Major Hottie (Chris Christoforou) flashed his early gate speed from Post 4 and took control, but 6-5 favourite Lucky Man (Jason Brewer) pulled the pocket before the :26.4 opening quarter and showed the way to the half in :54.3.
Waples had Keystone Horatio positioned fifth and sent the John Kopas trainee first up en route to three-quarters in 1:23.3. As Keystone Horatio applied heavy pressure to the leader down the stretch, Major Hottie made a break in behind while looking for racing room. Keystone Horatio surged ahead in late stretch to grab the victory in 1:51.3. Lucky Man was just a half-length behind with 29-1 Get Out Of Dodge (Rick Zeron).
Keystone Horatio paid $6.10 to win as the 2-1 second choice. The five-year-old son of Rustler Hanover-Keystone Havoc has won seven times in 32 seasonal starts and has banked $272,420 for the Estate Of George F Hempt Trust of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
Bestofbothworlds kicked off the card with a 1:52.3 victory in the $32,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace. The three-year-old Cambest-Summers Soul filly, driven by Rick Zeron, converted from the pocket to prevail over her five older rivals.
Even money favourite Meredith Maguire N (Luc Ouellette) charged to command from Post 3 ahead of inside starter Bestofbothworlds before the first turn. “Meredith” carved out fractions of :27.1 and :56.3 before Southwind Madonna (Lyle MacArthur) moved underway from fourth flushing Bestofbothworlds out of the pocket at three-quarters in 1:25.1.
Meredith Maguire N gave way to Bestofbothworlds at the top of the stretch and the 9-5 second choice opened up four and a quarter lengths as she cruised to her third consecutive victory. Meredith Maguire N finished second while Lady Latte (Sylvain Filion) sprinted home from the backfield to get third.
Bestofbothworlds paid $5.90 to win for the seventh time in 15 starts this season. The bay filly is trained Ronnie MacLean for owners Frederick Woolford of Mount Brydges and the Park Lane Stable of North York, Ont. She has earned the majority of her $227,970 bankroll this year.
To view Saturday's results, click here.