After suffering his first loss of the season in last week’s second leg of The Diplomat Pacing Series, Mcaracas bounced back with a devastating win in Saturday night’s $80,000 final at Woodbine in 1:51.4 on what was a very blustery night in Toronto
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Driver Mario Baillargeon sent the strapping three-year-old son of Mcardle - Smooth Latin N straight to command from Post 2 and had the field lined up behind him through a quick opening quarter of :26.2. Once on top, a headstrong Mcaracas kept rolling through middle-half splits of :54.4 and 1:22.1 while building up an eight-length lead at the top of the stretch.
Mcaracas was kept on cruise control over the final quarter and tallied by 7-3/4 lengths over Top Gear (Sylvain Filion), who rallied for second with Willies Place (Mark MacDonald) landing the show spot. Mcaracas kicked back $3.20 as the definitive bettor’s choice.
“Well, I think it’s like a mile in 1:49,” said Baillargeon, referring to the time considering the windy conditions. “I left hard with him and it was the first time I really left with him this year. He was pretty grabby after that. We may have to put a set of pull plugs on him. I think things are looking pretty good for him down the road.”
Mcaracas now sports three wins in four starts this season for trainer Ben Baillargeon and owners Ecuries Vert Et Blanc Inc. of Pierrefonds, QC and Gilles Parent of Ottawa, ON. The win boosted his career bankroll to just over $109,000.
Mcaracas is scheduled to compete next in the Bud Light Stakes next week at Flamboro Downs. He is also eligible to the $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup on June 26 at Mohawk and is assessed at odds of 85-1 in Trot Magazine's 2010 Spring Book.
Saturday’s card also featured a $34,000 Preferred Pace and it was Astreos Flash who pulled off a front-end score for driver Rick Zeron and trainer Shawn Robinson.
The six-year-old son of Astreos-Cam Boo Angel swept past early speedster Stonebridge On Ice (Mike Saftic) at the :26.3 quarter pole and carved out the remaining stations of :54.3 and 1:22.4 before tripping the timer in 1:51. The 7-2 second choice held off Stonebridge On Ice by three-quarters of a length while Kindly Poet (Sylvain Filion) finished back in third.
Astreos Flash returned $9.30 to win. The bay gelding has now won six times in 13 seasonal starts earning $125,200 for owners Brenton Harris and Stephen Johnson of Whitby, ON, and Gerrie Tucker of Montreal, QC.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from WEG)