Four divisions of the Autumn Series for two-year-olds were contested during Thursday evening’s card of racing at Woodbine Racetrack, with two contests for trotting colts and geldings and the other set for pacing colts and geldings.
The undefeated Big Bang Boom kept his perfect record intact thanks to his front-stepping score in the first division for the pacing colts & geldings. Jonathan Drury hustled the gelding to the lead from Post 6, and after parking past the quarter pole in :27 he went on to carve out middle panels of :56.3 and 1:24.4. He then used a :28-second closing quarter to win by three-quarters of a length over Continual Hanover. Taking home third prize was B Fast Eddie.
Carmen Auciello trains the son of Big Jim-Shytown Lightning for owner Michael Virdiramo of Markham, ON. Sent off as the 1-5 favourite, Big Bang Boom is now 3-for-3 with earnings of $22,000.
Print Media rallied for a new lifetime mark of 1:53.4 in the second division, and in doing so he gave driver Sylvain Filion his third straight victory on the card. Print Media got away sixth and watched Gotti and race favourite Secrecy take turns on the lead through fractions of :26.4, :57.2 and 1:25.3. Print Media came first-over in the backstretch, but he dug in deep and used a :28-second closing quarter to edge past Secrecy in the closing strides. Print Media prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Secrecy, with Gotti taking home third prize.
Richard Moreau trains the son of Vintage Master-Matilda Hall for owner Saverino Spagnolo of Ottawa, ON. The victory improved his record to 2-4-1 from 12 starts, and the lion’s share of the loot lifted his cash stash to $38,850.
Matza Man brushed to the front shortly past the quarter pole in the first division for the trotting colts and geldings, and once he cleared to the lead it was game over for the others. Jack Moiseyev tracked Chestnut Schofield to the quarter pole in :28.4 before sprinting past that foe. Once in charge, Matza Man laid down sensible panels of :59 and 1:28.4 before using a :28.3 kicker to win by a length over Gonna Fly in 1:57.2. Derivative took home the show dough in the $16,000 contest.
The son of Kadabra-Queen For A Day hangs his harness bag in the barn of Blake MacIntosh, who trains the colt for Glat Kosher Racing of Monroe, NJ. The youngster improved his record to 3-1-0 from seven starts while bumping his bankroll to $30,500.
Ulysses Bi rallied into a slowing tempo to capture the second division in 1:58.1 for the tandem of driver Rick Zeron and trainer Jeff Durham. The colt got away last in the field of six before taking over the fifth spot at the half and three-quarter poles. Pukka did all the heavy lifting through fractions of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:26.1 before he started to tire. Ulysses Bi was angled out to the middle of the racetrack in the lane and he used a :29.1 closing quarter to win by 1-1/2 lengths over Red Monster in 1:58.1. Pukka faded late and settled for the show dough.
It was a maiden-breaking score for the son of Manofmanymissions-Merida Bi who is owned by Ontario partners Van Camp Trotting Corp of Port Perry and Jack Durham of Omemee. He’s banked $8,700 to date.
To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results – Woodbine Racetrack.