The 2014 Ontario Sires Stakes season kicked off on Friday night at The Raceway at the Western Fair District with three-year-old pacing colts and geldings in the spotlight.
Three $70,000 Gold divisions were contested back-to-back during the final half of the evening's program with Boomboom Ballykeel winning his sophomore debut in the OSS season opener for the O'Brien Award winning team of Sylvain Filion and Richard Moreau.
Major Homer (Jody Jamieson) established the lead off the gate while even-money favourite Speckled Door (Doug McNair) rolled up and settled into the pocket spot through a :28-second first quarter. Major Homer continued to lead the way through middle splits of :57.4 and 1:26.2 with Roger Mach Em (Paul MacDonell) advancing first over from fourth and P L Haymaker (Trevor Henry) following his cover. However, Filion had positioned Boomboom Ballykeel third over from the backfield and sent him three-wide into the stretch to sweep past the field for the 1:56.2 triumph. Roger Mach Em finished over one length behind in second while Major Homer was third over Speckled Door.
Last year's Metro Pace winner is owned and bred by Ballykeel Racing of Tillsonburg, Ont. The Mach Three-Teig N Riley colt banked $389,702 in purses during his rookie campaign and is a top five ranked Pepsi North America Cup eligible in Trot Magazine's 2014 Spring Book.
Sent postward as the 7-2 second choice, Boomboom Ballykeel paid $10.50 to win.
Anthony Montini trainee Reasonable Force and Canadian win leader Trevor Henry then held off the late-closers to take the second OSS division.
Leaving from the inside post position, this year's Youthful Series champion carved out fractions of :28, :58 and 1:26.4 en route to the 1:55.4 score. Silverhill Shadow (Jody Jamieson) rallied three-wide off the cover of fellow Cup eligible and race favourite Three Of Clubs (Doug McNair) nearing the third quarter pole, but came up a three-quarters of length short. Second choice Shadowbriand (Paul MacDonell) finished third off a pocket trip over a rough-gaited Three Of Clubs. Defending OSS divisional champion Bugger Bruiser (Anthony MacDonald) broke stride and finished a distant seventh in his season's debut.
Reasonable Force paid $7.80 to win as the 5-2 third choice in the field.
The Shadow Play-JK Hello Dolly gelding has now won four times in 10 starts this year for local owner Douglas Dunbar and partner Robert Leblanc of White Plains, New York.
Allstar Seelster won the fastest and final division of the night in front-end fashion with Doug McNair in the bike for the Jack Darling Stables of Cambridge, Ont.
McNair fired the Artistic Fella-Aqua Rosa gelding to the top from post three and cruised through panels of :27.4, :57 and 1:25.2 before crossing the wire in 1:55 flat. Favourite Falcon Justice (Paul MacDonell) followed one length behind in second while Ideal Jet (Trevor Henry) advanced into third.
Allstar Seelster returned $12.70 to win as the 5-1 fifth choice.
He now boasts two wins and two seconds in four outings this year.
OSS champion Boomboom Ballykeel's older brother was also a winner on Friday night for the same connections. Mach Of Ballykeel won the $12,500 Wall Of Fame Invitational Pace in the middle of the 12-race card as Filion pulled the favourite from the pocket at the third quarter mark and he drew away by three lengths over the pacesetting Nothingbutmach (Scott Coulter) to stop the clock in 1:55.4. Moreau trains the six-year-old homebred for Ballykeel Racing and Mach Of Ballykeel Stable.
Prior to the race in a special track side ceremony made by the Western Fair Association's CEO Hugh Mitchell and The Raceway's Manager Greg Blanchard, Killean Acres was inducted into the track's Wall of Fame. The Ingersoll, Ont. breeding operation is the first farm and 34th overall inductee into the Wall of Fame.
Jack McNiven, 79, and family were on hand representing the farm that was founded 59 years ago by his father, Robert. Jack and his brother, Don, who passed away on January 18 at the age of 81, devoted their lives to building Killean Acres into a respected Standardbred breeding farm.
Eliminations were also held for the City Of London Trotting Series on Friday.
Glengate Farms' three-year-old filly Ja El Diamond was a gate-to-wire winner in 2:04.1 in the first $7,000 elimination for fillies and mares with Steve Byron in the sulky for trainer Pat Hunt. Sonny With Achance (Jeff O'Brien) tried to pass the favourite a couple of times during the mile, but eventually settled for second one length behind while third-place went to a distant Skelly (Doug McNair).
Driven by Filion, Oaklea Wand turned back a parked out Heroine Seelster (Curtis Clements) past the half-mile mark in the next elimination and drew off for the three length maiden-breaking victory in 2:03. Lavish Soiree (Mark Williams) was the best of the rest, finishing well back in third. The sophomore filly is owned and bred by Oaklea Farm and trained by Larry Kestle.
In the final elimination for female trotters, Shanna and Geoff Maltby's four-year-old mare Oh My Golly Molly and Henry prevailed from the pocket over the front-striding Lucy (Steve Byron) by two and a half lengths in 2:04.4 with Zahariba (Jean Bernard Renaud) rounding out the top three finishers.
The first elimination for male trotters went to M C Wood, who bypassed a gaping two-hole and worked his way to the lead early on for Ross Battin en route to a two and three-quarter length win in 2:01.3. Shadywood Kid (Trevor Henry) edged out first over challenger Tequila Haze (Jody Jamieson) for the runner-up honours. Susan Duke's homebred gelding is now five-for-seven in his sophomore year while racing from the Gary Payne barn.
The Kelly Sheppard-trained and driven Kdazzle converted a pocket trip into a 2:01.3 triumph in the next elimination for horses and geldings. Pacesetter American Superman (Doug McNair) finished over one length behind in second while Pricevalley Espoir (Trevor Henry) finished back in third. The four-year-old gelding is owned and bred by Sea Of Green Inc.
Making just his second career start, three-year-old colt Federal Army rallied home from the backfield to post a 20-1 upset in the final elimination for male trotters. He was driven to the three length victory in 2:04.4 by Bruce Richardson, who also trains and shares ownership with Randy Marriage and J. Peter Irwin. Early breaker Class Me Nice (Jody Jamieson) recovered to place, coming from last to edge out pacesetter Crime Novel (Mark Williams).
The series is for Ontario-sired pacers and trotters that are four years old or younger and non-winners of $10,000 lifetime as of midnight April 1, 2014. The eliminations for pacers were held on Tuesday and all $30,000 (added) finals will be contested on Molson Pace Night next Friday, May 30.
Between races, Western Fair also hosted a pair of non-wagering dashes featuring the crowd-pleasing miniature ponies. Those events were won by Mullinger with Debi O'Brien-Moran and Rocky Rocks with Leslie Joyce.
To view Friday's harness racing racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Western Fair Raceway.