Driver Mark MacDonald had the golden touch at Georgian Downs on Saturday evening, piloting four of his seven mounts to victory in eliminations
for next weekend’s Gold Rush showdown.
The talented reinsman opened the Georgian Downs program with a front end triumph aboard three-year-old pacing gelding Ideal Race. The pair cruised under the wire one and three-quarter lengths ahead of Blended Whiskey (Paul MacDonell) and Blue Suede Shoes (Luc Ouellett) in a personal best 1:52.3. Western Terror son Ideal Race now sports a sophomore record of four wins and one second in seven starts for earnings of $64,000.
Ideal Race was one of three horses MacDonald landed in the winner’s circle for trainer Tracy Brainard and owners Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida. Of the nine horses Brainard entered on behalf of Bulletproof Enterprises, eight delivered top three finishes. In the first race Blue Suede Shoes also hailed from the Brainard/Bulletproof barn, and in the fourth race the partnership produced the top three finishers.
Starting from Post 3 with heavy favourite Yellow Diamond, MacDonald allowed the three-year-old pacing filly to float away from the starting gate and was sitting fifth when Luc Ouellette and Brainard trainee Kabbalah Karen B reached the opening quarter in :27.4. Not content to watch her stablemate have all the fun on the front end, Yellow Diamond fired up the outside and had established a two length margin by the time she reached the halfway marker in :56.1.
MacDonald and Yellow Diamond maintained a sharp pace through the 1:24.4 three-quarters, and while Kabbalah Karen B and Cheap Motel (Randy Waples) did their best to reel in their stablemate, Yellow Diamond cruised home a one and a half length winner in 1:52.4.
A daughter of Western Terror, Yellow Diamond improved her already impressive record to six wins, one second and one third in nine starts with the victory, and boosted her lifetime earnings to $393,601.
The third mount MacDonald reined to victory for Brainard and Bulletproof was three-year-old pacing filly Shacked Up, who controlled the pace from start to finish in the fifth race to score the 1:53 win. Another Western Terror offspring, Shacked Up fought off a challenge from runner-up Windsong Filou to post the three-quarter length margin of victory. Grin Goddess was three and a half lengths behind the duelling leaders in third.
A Gold Final winner as a two-year-old, Shacked Up has amassed a record of three wins and two seconds in six starts this year for earnings of $152,317.
MacDonald’s final appearance in the winner’s circle on Saturday came in the tenth race when he teamed up with three-year-old pacing gelding Primary Purpose. The horseman had not sat behind Primary Purpose since their Upper Canada Cup elimination win at Georgian Downs on May 16, but they quickly found their rhythm, and powered away from Post 7 to a :26.4 opening quarter.
After rolling through a :55.3 half and 1:23 three-quarters, Primary Purpose battled hard in the stretch to earn a neck decision over Brainard trainee Waffles And Cream (Jack Moiseyev) in 1:51.1. OK Boromir (Luc Ouellette) was just three-quarters of a length back in third.
The mile shaved almost three full seconds off the Casie Coleman trainee’s former personal best, set in the Upper Canada Cup elimination, and boosted his record to four wins, three seconds and one third in 11 starts. Owners Rod Therres of Surrey and Charles Macfarlane of Victoria, B.C. have deposited $133,150 on the Cammibest son’s behalf this season.
The other three-year-old pacing colt elimination went to Upper Canada Cup champion Stonebridge Terror and regular reinsman Mike Saftic in 1:52.1.
Trainer Bob McIntosh and driver Steve Condren dominated the sophomore trotting colt eliminations, posing in the winner’s circle with Panz Kafka and Rosesbowls MVP.
Panz Kafka bested Angeldrive (Dan Clements) and Hitithard (Sylvain Filion) with an impressive come-from-behind effort that saw him hit the wire in 1:57, while Rosesbowls MVP outsprinted Striking Lindsey (Randy Fritz) and Mopey Corey (Anthony MacDonald) to earn his 1:58.1 victory. Peter Pan Stables of Pepper Pike, Ohio owns Panz Kafka, while Windsor resident McIntosh and C S X Stables of Liberty Center, Ohio share ownership on Rosesbowls MVP.
The other trotting colt elimination was captured by Equity in 1:57.
Last season’s Super Final champion Elusive Desire returned to the Ontario Sires Stakes program with a 1:57.3 victory in her elimination, while Simply Stirling took home the other trotting filly trophy with a 1:58.1 effort.
The top nine pacing colts, pacing fillies, trotting colts and trotting fillies will return to Georgian Downs next Saturday, July 11 for the track’s second annual Gold Rush event, worth more than $1 million.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from OSS)