The favourites were defeated in a pair of close finishes during round three of the Champions Series on Saturday night at Sudbury Downs
. Earning their first wins in the pacing series, Mr Coolie and Deuces And Jacks edged out the more popular choices in their respective $15,000 divisions. The series is for non-winners of $75,000 in 2011 as of Oct. 22.
Overlooked as the 8-1 longest shot on the board, $200,000-plus career earner Mr Coolie pulled off a wire-to-wire upset victory in the first division.
Driven by Mario Rivest, Mr Coolie left from Post 3 and cruised past fractions of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:27 before holding off the early trailer, favourite Willies Place (Mike MacNeill), by a neck for the 1:57 triumph. Pocket-sitter Flight Night (Paul MacLean) finished three-quarters of a length behind in third.
Mr Coolie, last year’s Ontario Boys Pacing Series Final champion and City Of Greater Sudbury Series Final runner-up, earned his second win of the season in 15 starts. The five-year-old son of No Pan Intended is owned by trainer-breeder Gregg McNair of Guelph, Ont. and Ian Fleming of Londesborough, Ont. He returned $18.30 to his backers for tonight’s victory.
Inching closer to the half-million dollar mark in career earnings, Deuces And Jacks converted from the pocket and wore down the popular Part Shark for a mild 5-1 upset in the second division.
Part Shark (Wayne MacLean) established the lead from Post 3 with the Paul MacLean-driven Deuces And Jacks, a 2009 Champion Series competitor, settling in the pocket after starting just to his outside. Part Shark carved out fractions of :28, :58.1 and 1:27.2 before Deuces And Jacks swept past him in the stretch to score the three-quarter length victory in 1:56.3. Finishing over three lengths behind was the late-rallying Sambucca Mystic (David Dowling).
Deuces And Jacks paid $12 to win as the third choice in the field. The seven-year-old Million Dollar Cam gelding, now trained by Justin Turcotte, has won seven races in 31 seasonal starts. He is owned by MacLean and Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Wallenstein, Ont.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Sudbury Downs.