A trip to Rideau Carleton Raceway proved to be a profitable one for the second week-in-a-row for
the Dave Menary-trained Fast Pay, who was a popular winner in the first $130,000 OSS Gold Series final of the season for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Sent off as the 3/5 choice in the nine-horse affair, Fast Pay vaulted off cover for driver Paul MacDonell and drew away to a 1:53 victory for the partnership of Larry Menary, Denis Breton, Phil Silvestri and Joe Settimi.
Blue Suede Shoes sprinted to the quarter pole in :27 seconds before backing down his speed to the mid-way point in :56.2. He came under pressure at that point from My Gift To You, and that colt was tracked by Fast Pay.
My Gift To You showed a short lead over a tiring Blue Suede Shoes at the three-quarter pole in 1:24.1, but MacDonell pushed the button on Fast Pay and the son of Western Terror-Speedy Shopper catapulted to the top. He was the new leader at the head of the lane and crossed the line with nearly two lengths to spare in a time of 1:53. Shady Cam rallied to finish second and Stonebridge Terror came on to grab the show dough.
“I was pretty happy with him after last week,” trainer Dave Menary told Trot Insider. “They battled up front tonight and a few of the good ones were behind us. I didn’t think they could out-sprint us. Paul [driver Paul MacDonell] gave him a great trip and everything worked out perfectly. Paul really thinks a lot of the colt.
“As long as he comes out of this trip ok I’m going to try him in the North America Cup eliminations in 13 days,” he added. “We planned all along to skip the Burlington. I didn’t want to race him back in six days for the Burlington; we would have to go too many weeks in a row. We’ve always been really high on the colt, but he really came back strong this year and he seems to be getting better and better.”
The victory was third in five tries this season for the career winner of $168,916.
To view Sunday’s results, click here.