Two-year-old pacing colts and geldings were the stars of the show at Truro Raceway on Thursday evening, as the Nova Scotia half-miler featured five divisions of the
Atlantic Sires Stakes.
There were a trio of $7,340 “A” divisions and a set of $2,500 “B” divisions for the youngsters, with Lonestar Sydney taking the opening “A” split in 2:01 for trainer/driver Greg Sparling. It was a career-best clocking for the son of Astronomical-Talk Sense who led the field through panels of :30.1, 1:01.4 and 1:31.2 before using a :29.3 closing panel to seal the deal over Windemere Jack and Island Lexus.
Sent off as the 9-5 favourite, Lonestar Sydney improved his rookie record to 2-1-1 in four tries. He is owned by James Dicks of Lorraine and George MacDougall of Port Hood, NS. The $5,000 purchase from last year’s Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Yearling Sale has now stashed away $6,302 in earnings.
Touch Of Lightning broke into the win column for the first time in his career thanks to a gritty score in off-the-pace fashion for trainer/driver Earl Smith in the second division. The son of Articulator-Aquatic Lightning, who was parked every step of the mile and suffered interference in the stretch, overcame those hurdles to win by four lengths over Astronomical Union. This Bird Will Fly, who made a late break, recovered to finish third.
Sent off at odds of 5-1, Touch Of Lightning improved his record to 1-2-0 in three tries for the PEI partnership of Peter Smith, Donald Smith, Gerald Morrissey and Larry Chappell. The career winner of $6,993 was a $6,000 purchase from last year’s Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Yearling Sale.
Lyndale Royal earned a new lifetime mark of 1:59.4 thanks to his one-length score over Pondside Thunder. Selkirk Artemus was third. Brodie MacPhee worked out a pocket trip for the son of Force Of Life-Royal Pursuit, and the colt used a :28.4 closing frame to notch the second win of his career.
David MacDonald of Belfast, PEI owns and Terrence Affleck trains the youngster, who now boasts a 2-1-0 record in the first three starts of his career. The $4,100 purchase from last year’s Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale has banked $8,825 to date.
The $2,500 “B” divisions went to Porthill Jack (2:03.1) and Pictonian Dbl Shot (2:05.4).
To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results – Truro Raceway.