Favourites Western Joe and Filibuster Hanover came out on top during Sunday night's elimination round for the 40th edition of the $182,500 Confederation Cup, which is scheduled for May 20 at Flamboro Downs.
The top four finishers from each $20,000 elimination, plus a fifth-place finisher drawn by lot (TBA), will advance to the final.
Western Joe won his Canadian debut in the first elimination with driver Doug McNair working out the winning front-end trip for trainer Christopher Choate.
Leaving from post five, Western Joe set his sights on the lead and worked to clear Maroma Beach (Yannick Gingras) through a :26.4 opening quarter. The 3-5 favourite carved out middle splits of :56.2 and 1:24.1 with even-money Funknwaffles (Corey Callahan) launching his attack out of third down the backstretch and Eddard Hanover (Louis-Philippe Roy) rushing three-wide. However, Western Joe pulled clear of his rivals to score in 1:51.3 by one and a quarter length. Maroma Beach finished second over Eddard Hanover while Funknwaffles ended up fourth. Bags To Riches (Jody Jamieson) was fifth.
Owned and bred by New York's Anthony Ruggeri, the four-year-old son of Western Ideal out of Ante Fay entered the Confederation Cup eliminations off three close runner-up finishes at The Meadowlands. Winning for the seventh time this year in 14 starts, Western Joe returned $3.40 to his backers at the betting windows.
Filibuster Hanover was victorious in the second elimination for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke, who previously won back-to-back editions of the Confederation Cup in 2015 and 2016 with All Bets Off and Rockin Ron.
Art Scene (Louis-Philippe Roy) charged three-wide into the first turn to take the lead over insiders Blood Line (Trevor Henry) and 1-5 favourite Filibuster Hanover. He was on top by three lengths at the :26.3 quarter mark and raced on to the half in :55.3 before coming under attack. Filibuster Hanover swept by down the backstretch and opened up a quick three-length lead past three-quarters in 1:23.1 with Daiymir (Jonathan Drury) in pursuit off his cover. Down the stretch, Odds On Delray closed inside with Doug McNair trying to sweep the eliminations, but coming up one length short as Filibuster Hanover prevailed in 1:51.4. Boogie Shuffle (Randy Waples) came on for third over Daiymir. Rock N Tony (Corey Callahan) completed the top five finish order.
A judges' inquiry into the start of the race concerning Red John resulted in no change to the order of finish. The judges ruled that Red John's sulky sustained a flat tire after the start and there was no interference caused by Boogle Shuffle or Daiymir relating to equipment issue.
Filibuster Hanover, the 2017 Little Brown Jug champion, paid $2.50 to win. He is now two-for-two this year following his Graduate Series win last weekend at The Meadowlands.
The Somebeachsomewhere-Fashion Ecstasy gelding is owned by Pennsylvania's Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, along with New York's Joseph Di Scala Jr. and J And T Silva Stables.
Sunday night's undercard included a $9,500 Preferred 3 Pace, which was won by Toot Toot N ($8.30) in 1:54 for Ed and Ashleigh Hensley.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Flamboro Downs.
Its a shame that the
Its a shame that the Confederation is not run in the afternoon so that families could attend. It was always a special occasion for our family and friends for years. We all traveled from Georgetown, Uxbridge, Whitby and several car loads from Toronto. The year they switched to night racing, we all stopped going. Flamboro should try a couple of 1 pm cards this summer and just see the crowds come back.
The final should be a dandy!
The final should be a dandy!