Two-year-olds were in the spotlight at Flamboro Downs on Sunday evening as they battled for a spot in the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold finals for trotting and pacing colts and
geldings.
Fresh off his Battle of Waterloo victory, Wellthereyougo returned to victory lane in the first of three $40,000 OSS Gold elims for pacing colts and geldings. Randy Waples sent the Camluck-Cheeky Hanover colt straight to the front of the field from Post 5 and the pair led the way through panels of :28.1, :57.3 and 1:26.2. With a :28.4 final frame, Wellthereyougo sealed the deal. The fan favourite stopped the clock in 1:55.1 finishing over two lengths ahead of Stonebridge Tonic (Doug McNair). Longshot Toughest Of All (Paul MacDonell) rounded out the top three.
Dr. Ian Moore trains and owns the winner of $215,450 with R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, N.B. and Serge Savard of Saint-Bruno, Que. The win was Wellthereyougo’s fourth in six outings.
Post time favourite Future Million won the fastest of the three pace elims in wire-to-wire fashion. With Simon Allard in the bike for trainer Donald Lowes, the Million Dollar Cam-Future Champion colt prevailed by a length in 1:55 over Royal Artist (Sylvain Filion). Keystone Raptor (Jack Moiseyev) finished back in third.
Lowes also owns Future Million, a winner of two races in six starts and $104,647, with Kerry Lowes of Princeton, Ont.
Adrenaline also capitalized on a front-end trip in the final elim driver Rick Zeron and trainer Louie Eftimadis. The son of Mach Three-Sand Sweetness carved out all the fractions before fending off the eventual third-place finisher, Mcmaverick (Steve Condren) heading into the stretch. The favourite prevailed in 1:56.1 by over a length with Code Word (Scott Coulter) coming on for second.
Gerald Mijal of Westland, Mighican owns Adrenaline, who has won half of his six career starts and earned $93,700.
In the first and fastest of five trotting eliminations, Pointe To Pointe and trainer/driver Wayne Henry converted a pocket trip into a 17-1 upset. The Mutineer-Garland Bonita gelding nosed out Text Me (Steve Condren) for the win in 1:59.3 while pacesetter Hava Kadabra (Sylvain Filion) finished third. Fan favourite Ja El Express (Jody Jamieson) made a break off the gate and endured broken equipment taking him out of contention.
The winner of two races in four starts and $49,575 is owned by the Henry Stable of Arthur and Jeffrey Thomson of Chesley, Ont.
In the second elim, favourite War King Ton and driver Roger Mayotte wired the field to win 2:01.3 by two and a half lengths. Mc Cloud (Roy Jefferies) and Markofdistinction (Jonathan Drury) finished second and third.
Trained by Bruce MacDonald, the Ken Warkentin-Emma Rules gelding notched his second win in four starts and lifted his earnings to $64,830 for owners Marvin Chantler of Loretto, Ont., Daniel MacIsaac of Charlottetown, P.E.I., John McCormack and Richard Bartel of Kelowna, B.C.
Reach Higher, the odds-on favourite in his elim, rallied off a pocket trip to win in 2:00.1 by two lengths over pacesetter Protege Seelster (Jody Jamieson). Kenny B rounded out the top three.
Driven by Steve Condren, the son of Striking Sahbra-Raising The Bar won his second race in four outings for trainer John Kopas. The winner of $56,287 is owned by the Estate Of George F. Hempt Trust of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, the KR Stable of Milton, Doug Millard of Woodstock and the LLK Stable of Mississauga, Ont.
Quantum Antonio went wire-to-wire to post an 18-1 surprise in his elim for teamsters Mike Langdon and trainer Harolde Lunde. Scotty Doesnt Know (Ron Waples) finished one and a half length behind in second and High Jingo (Bill O’Donnell) recovered from an early break to take third. Favourite Magic Fruit (Trevor Ritchie) couldn’t recover from his early miscue and finished last.
Quantum Antonio is owned by Scuderia Giuliano of Comp Benzo, Italy. The Angus Hall-Foreign broke his maiden with the victory and took home a $20,000 paycheck.
In the final elimination for trotters, Duke Maccallum, in line to Anthony MacDonald, used off the pace tactics to win in 2:01.1 by two and a half lengths over Rodeo (Mike Saftic). Lexis D J (Trevor Ritchie) was third placed fourth after failing to lose ground while on a break. Favourite Rudy Rocks (Scott Coulter) inherited third place as a result.
Duke Maccallum, a son of Duke Of York-Rau D Judy, is trained by James MacDonald, who shares ownership with Frederick Macdonald of Cornwall, P.E.I. The win was the colt’s first of his career and boosted his bankroll to $23,200.
Both Gold finals will take place next Sunday, August 16 as part of Flamboro Downs' Confederation Cup program. First post is set for 1:30 p.m.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click here.