Protégé Seelster and Roush Hanover won their respective $25,000 elimination of the Autumn Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings, and by doing so they’ve punched their ticket to next week’s final
in addition to earning their connections an opportunity to select a post position for that $60,000 tilt.
Roger Mayotte mapped out the winning trip for Protégé Seelster in the opening elimination, much to the delight of the favourite players who made the son of Striking Sahbra the 7-5 favourite. Grande Diablo and Twin B Spike Man battled on the lead to the quarter pole in :27.2 before the latter cleared to the top. He proceeded to the lead the field to the half in :57.3 before coming under heavy pressure from Protégé Seelster. Those two were side-by-side at the three-quarter pole in 1:27.2 before Protégé Seelster pulled away to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:56. Twin B Spike Man was second, with Paiging Kadabra rounding out the top three finishers.
Trainer Peter Carroll of Rockwood co-owns the gelding with Sam Angelopolous of Cambridge, ON, and together they’ve watched the gelding assemble a 3-3-4 record from 22 trips to the track this season. The winning effort pushed his overall cash stash to $61,152.
Roush Hanover front-stepped to a 1:56 victory in the other elimination for the father and son duo of trainer Yves Filion and driver Sylvain Filion. The son of Kadabra-Remarkable Image led through panels of :27.4 and :57.4 before coming under heavy pressure to the three-quarter pole by Oh No Three O. That foe showed a short lead by the third juncture of the mile, but Roush Hanover came back on and put away that rival en route to winning by 1-1/2 lengths. O No Three O was the best of the rest, with Civic Duty a distant third.
Bayama Farms of Saint-Andre-D’Argenteuil, QC owns the colt, who now boasts a 3-2-1 record from nine trips postward. Unraced as a rookie, the sophomore has stashed away $35,650 to date
The top five finishers from each of Monday’s eliminations will line up on the gate in next Monday’s final at Woodbine. Here’s the field for that event:
$60,000 Autumn Stakes Final
1. Civic Duty
2. Protege Seelster
3. Roush Hanover
4. Oh No Three O
5. Grande Diablo
6. Twin B Spike Man
7. Charmbo Tie
8. Seagram
9. I Aint No Worser
10. Paiging Kadabra
To view Monday’s results, click here.