Mach It So earned his fourth consecutive stakes triumph on Sunday night as Rideau Carleton Raceway played host to the Ontario Sires Stakes' Glamour Boy division.
Three-year-old pacing colts and geldings faced off in two $105,000 Gold Series divisions with Gallant Seelster capturing the other split.
Driver Scott Zeron settled favourite Mach It So mid-pack early on while Brocks Fortune (Doug McNair) established the lead and set fractions of :26.1, :55.2 and 1:23.2. Zeron tipped his charge second over behind Trys Little Prince (Gord Brown) approaching the third quarter mark and rallied off cover down the stretch to prevail in 1:52 flat. Brocks Fortune finished one length behind in second while pocket-sitter Mach Pride (Mike Saftic) came in third.
The Mach Three-Beach Dancer gelding is trained by Richard 'Nifty' Norman and owned by New Jersey's Bamond Racing LLC. He paid $2.80 to win.
Mach It So now boasts two Gold wins to go along with his Canadian Breeders Championship trophy earned last weekend at Mohawk Racetrack. (He was also a winner in the June 24 Gold Series leg at the Campbellville, Ont. oval.)
Doug McNair worked out the winning trip in the earlier division for Gallant Seelster, who stopped the clock in 1:52.2. McNair's father Gregg trains the Stonebridge Regal-Gold Not Silver gelding for Michigan owners Lindsey and Connie Rankin.
Gallant Seelster sat fifth through early fractions of :26.2 and :55.2 before following the cover of favourite Tarpon Hanover (Jody Jamieson), who took over the lead from Closing Credits (Billy Davis Jr.) at the 1:23.1 third quarter mark. Gallant Seelster quickly moved up alongside the new leader and drew clear to win by four lengths. Up Up And Out (Marcus Miller) and Blissfull Bro (Guy Gagnon) came on for second and third.
The victory was Gallant Seelster's first in stakes action. He finished second to Mach It So in the first Gold event of the season.
Sent postward as the 5-1 fourth choice in the wagering, Gallant Seelster paid $12.50 to win.
In regular Rideau racing action, St Lads Moxie lowered the track record for aged pacing mares to 1:52.4 with a seven and a half length romp. The six-year-old daughter of Camotion shaved two-fifths of a second off the former mark held by Wild Ride Hanover.
Four-time Sunday winner Brad Forward catch-drove the mare, who has won five in a row (at four different racetracks) since being claimed for $10,000 on June 13 at Mohawk Racetrack by Jonah Moase of Cornwall, P.E.I. and joining the Patrick Shepherd stable.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway.