Adrenaline, Haul Away and Twin B Warrior starred in three $25,000 eliminations for the second edition of the Upper Canada Cup for Ontario-sired three-year-old colt pacers Saturday evening at Georgian Downs
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Driven by Mario Baillargeon, Adrenaline rallied off cover to post a mild 5-1 upset in the first elimination for his new owners Albina Montini of Acton, Paul Giammichele of Burlington and Rama Bawa of Mississauga, ON.
Red Bugler (Keith Oliver) shot off the gate from the inside post position with Tigers Mattjesty (Simon Allard) eyeing the lead from Post 6 and quickly taking over. Red Bugler refused to sit a pocket trip and was back on top past the :26.3 first quarter.
Keystone Raptor (Jack Moiseyev) was next to move, brushing up from third to gain control en route to the half in :55.1 with BP Chimo (Jody Jamieson) angling out and Adrenaline following from fifth and sixth.
Keystone Raptor raced past three-quarters in 1:23.2 with BP Chimo at his wheel, but when they turned for home, Adrenaline fired up and rallied off cover with a :27.4 final quarter to score in 1:51.3. BP Chimo finished three-quarters of a length behind to his outside and Broadies Song (Scott Zeron) came on for third.
“Tony [trainer Anthony Montini] got him last week or two weeks ago and I qualified him Monday,” said Baillargeon in a post-race interview. “He qualified real good. He came a quarter in :26-seconds. We shortened his hopples a little bit for this track and he responded good tonight. He had a great trip, the fractions were pretty good and he came home in :27 and a piece. He’ll be a player.
“The plan was to finish in the top three, naturally,” continued Baillargeon. “When I saw Simon [Allard and Tigers Mattjesty] leave and then Jody [Jamieson and BP Chimo] leave and a couple of the horses on the inside were leaving so in the first turn I gave Jody a hole. I thought Jody’s horse was the best horse in there. It’s only his first start so he’ll be the horse to beat next week.
“It [the second over trip] worked out good because Jody’s horse kept going until the top of the stretch. I didn’t have to move my horse three-deep until we got in the stretch.”
Adrenaline paid $12.50 to win as the 5-1 fifth choice. The son of Mach Three-Sand Sweetness, who won three of his 15 races as a two-year-old earning $136,000, picked up his first win of the season tonight after finishing second in his early-May debut.
Haul Away used a similar strategy to win the second elimination with Jody Jamieson for trainer David Menary and owners Larry Menary of Cheltenham, Denis Breton of Welland, ON and Hamilton’s Phil Silvestri and Joseph Settimi.
P L Dangerous (Dan Clements) rushed to the lead forcing What The Sheik (Doug McNair) to take back for a pocket trip during a :26.2 opener while Haul Away tucked into fourth from a Post 6 start. As P L Dangerous led the field past the half in :55.2, Mach Dreamer (Luc Ouellette) angled out from third with Haul Away following his cover.
With Mach Dreamer right alongside the leader at the next station in 1:22.4, Jamieson sent Haul Away wide and after a brief pause he glided past them both to win in 1:52.2. Grin For Money (Jack Moiseyev) closed well for second with P L Dangerous settling for show. The winner returned $3.50 as the 3-5 popular choice.
“When I pulled the plugs, he sashayed sideways,” said Jamieson in regards to a judges’ inquiry concerning Haul Away at the three-quarters mark. “He’s just a real fresh colt and it was his second start of the year and he’s just antsy. I let him just stay back off Luc’s helmet a bit as we were marching up the backside and when I popped the plugs, I was up tight and he just wanted to explode and he actually exploded the wrong way. He went to the right really hard. I was lucky he stayed pacing actually because he was pacing really fast at that point. He recovered and it was a bit of a slow last quarter [:29.1] as the race is going to show but when you see the chart line on how far back he was after that little incident at the three-quarter pole I think it will be indicative of a huge performance.
“He’s a big, strong colt and he’s going to do some of his best racing as a four, five and six-year-old,” added Jamieson. “He’s a big, tall colt and a little bit gangly. He put it all together a bunch of times last year and made the connections some money and they’re expecting the same this year. His second start back of the year he just gapped out a little bit, not anything for concern I don’t think.”
Haul Away won six of 11 races at two, including two Ontario Sires Stakes Gold finals, and banked $198,520.
“I think that’s his ideal trip right there or leave and sit in the two-hole,” said Jamieson in regards to race strategy for next week’s final. “Ideally, you just can lead and let one follow and then the rail opens up like the seas parting and you get through going for $500,000. That’s the genius with Ontario breds, you get to race for huge money. Next week, $500,000 for one race, I see the advertisements everywhere and it’s going to be a great race and I hope that we get this great crowd next week.”
Jamieson found himself back in the winner’s circle after 3-5 favourite Twin B Warrior captured the fastest and final elim of the night in 1:51.1, which equaled Giddy Up Lucky and Primary Purpose's track record for three-year-old geldings.
Wellthereyougo (Jack Moiseyev) left alertly from Post 3 and put up the first quarter in :27.1 before Twin B Warrior made the winning move, charging to the top in front of the grandstand. The gelded son of Apaches Fame-What An Attitude was at the half in :55.1 and three-quarters in 1:23.2 before kicking away with a :27.3 final quarter for the three-length score. Wellthereyougo finished second and Golden Terror (Luc Ouellette), the longest shot on the board at odds of 26-1, came in third. Twin B Warrior paid $3.20 to win.
“It really should have been three [wins],” said Jamieson following his second elimination win. “BP Chimo, for his first start of the year, really raced great. He was a little shuffley on this track. But Twin B Warrior, that performance speaks for itself.
I’m never satisfied because I have three horses in the final and all three are very close-matched. I think they are the three best in the race so it’s going to be a tough choice. Hopefully he [Twin B Warrior] draws great and the rest will hopefully be history.”
Twin B Warrior won three of his four races including his divisional Grassroots Championship at two and earned $83,000 for owner Mac Nichol of Burlington, ON. He finished second in his sophomore debut on May 14 in the Bud Light Stake at Flamboro Downs.
“Last week at Flamboro he was struggling on the turns,” explained Jamieson. “He’s a big horse and it was a tight track even though it’s Canada’s fastest half. He paced a huge back half. Tonight he was just absolutely bionic. I left the plugs in thinking maybe I'll pull them next week so I thought he was very good tonight.”
“I actually think he’s better tracking horses,” commented trainer Jeff Gillis. “He certainly feels that way in training at home. He really loves to chase horses. He might be even better from off the pace but when you’re [the favourite] you’ve got to put him up on the lead.”
The $472,500 Upper Canada Cup will take place next Saturday, May 29 along with a $50,000 consolation. Here is a look at the field in post position order:
PP - Horse
1. Haul Away
2. Twin B Warrior
3. Grin For Money
4. Boadies Song
5. P L Dangerous
6. Wellthereyougo
7. BP Chimo
8. Adrenaline
9. Golden Terror
AE1. Red Bugler
AE2. Stonebridge Tonic
To view Saturday’s results, click here.