Four-year-old trotters took centre stage at Woodbine Racetrack on Monday, as the Rexdale oval hosted a trio of $20,000 eliminations of the General Brock Stakes
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Magic Machine used a solid kick in the stretch to win the first elimination in a career-best clocking of 1:56.4 for the father/son duo of co-owner/breeder/trainer Charalambos Christoforou and Chris Christoforou. The son of Kadabra-Noble Dreamer set sail coming off the final turn and got up in time to pick off race favourite Victom AS, who had to settle for the runner-up award. E W Fisher shot up the rail in the closing strides to grab the show dough.
The gelding, who was unraced at ages two and three, extended his winning streak to three-in-a-row while pushing his lifetime earnings to $21,250. The lightly-raced homebred is co-owned by Banjo Farms of Toronto, ON.
Winmecredit was a popular winner in the second elimination for the tandem of driver Jack Moiseyev and trainer Roy Jeffries. The gelding got away third, but brushed his way to the lead as the field moved past the mid-way point in :57.2. Winmecredit was unchallenged around the final turn and that allowed him to dictate the terms to the three-quarter pole in 1:28.1. Moiseyev turned on the jets with the leader at the head of the lane, and the :28.3 speed kicked out was good enough to seal the deal in 1:56.4. Zeus Lightning, who came first over, was three-quarters of a length in arrears with Stormont Trigger taking home the show dough.
Eirik Djuve of Sola, Norway owns the son of Credit Winner-Valley Dancing, who now boasts a 1-2-2 record in his first five starts of the season. The four-time winner bumped his overall cash stash to $69,703.
Classic Alana was on the receiving end of a perfect trip, and she didn’t disappoint an army of backers that sent her off as the 1-5 favourite in the third elimination. Jody Jamieson, who enjoyed a six-win night at the office, treated the daughter of Classic Photo-Roll A Victory to a second over trip and when he asked her to sprint she had no problem hitting another gear. The mare uncorked a :28-second final panel and used it to win by three-quarters of a length over a dead game Surclasser in 1:56.3. Paiging Kadabra, who was last at the three-quarter pole, passed five rivals in the lane and wound up third.
Jeff Gillis trains the productive campaigner for owner/breeder Harvey Eisman of Flint, MI. Eisman’s homebred improved her 2011 record to 2-3-1 in six trips to the track, and her $10,000 payday increased her lifetime earnings to $132,750.
The top three finishers from each of the eliminations plus one of the fourth-place finishers drawn by lot will return to Woodbine Racetrack next Monday to contest the final. Here’s how the field will line up on the starting gate:
$60,000 General Brock Stakes Final
1. Winmecredit
2. Victom AS
3. Magic Machine
4. Classic Alana
5. Stormont Trigger
6. Zeus Lightning
7. Lukes Raoule
8. Paiging Kadabra
9. E W Fisher
10. Surclasser
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, please click the following link: Monday Results – Woodbine Racetrack.