Eighteen went wire-to-wire in a 1:51 track record equalling performance to win the 53rd edition of the $60,000 Sobey's Gold Cup & Saucer, which wrapped Old Home Week festivities on Saturday evening at Charlottetown Driving Park.
First-time Cup starter Tyler Moore sent Trial #3 winner Eighteen to the lead from the inside post position in the featured finale and carved out fractions of :26.4, :54.2 and 1:22.1 en route to victory lane.
Amazon Art, driven by Jonathan Drury, tipped first over as the field moved in front of the grandstand for the first time with Trial #1 winner Stonebridge Terror and Anthony MacDonald firing three-wide and moving up to apply pressure to Eighteen down the backstretch before tucking into the two-hole around the final turn. Eighteen was one length clear entering the stretch and paced strong to the wire, holding off the hard-closing Mystician and James MacDonald, who rallied four-high from the backfield to finish second. Amazon Art was third.
The time of the mile matched the all-age track record set by the late Part Shark in the 2010 edition of the Gold Cup & Saucer. Moore, at the age of 20, became the youngest all-age track record holder in CDP history.
"I can barely keep my feet on the ground," commented the winning reinsman as he made his way to the winner's circle. "I had him on the gate a lot better tonight and he really got out of there great. Everything went his way. I knew it was a speed duel coming to the half with everyone going at him and he just fought them off the whole way. He couldn't wait to get this race done just as bad as me."
Eighteen is trained by Tyler's father Dr. Ian Moore, who drove the 1988 Gold Cup & Saucer winner The Papermaker. Ian Moore co-owns the winning four-year-old son of Cams Card Shark with R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, N.B. and Serge Savard of Saint-Bruno, Que. The victory was the pacer's eighth lifetime and lifted his bankroll to $235,350.
Eighteen paid $6.20 to win as the 2-1 favourite.
Earlier during Charlottetown Driving Park's action-packed double-header, the Erwin Andrew Memorial Mares Trot and Spud Island Classic Pacing Series wrapped up with Juliare and General Luckypercy taking top honours.
Eight-year-old trotting mare Juliare swept three-wide from the backfield near the third quarter mark and opened up more than five lengths on her foes to capture the $10,000 final of the Erwin Andrew Memorial Mares Trot, which is sponsored by Meridian Farms and Standardbred Canada. With Charlottetown's leading reinsman Marc Campbell in the sulky, she stopped the clock in 2:00.4 and was followed under the wire by the late rallying Ginternal Revenue (Mike Stevenson) and the popular early leader Warrawee Jade (Brian Andrew), who won both preliminary divisions.
Improving with each leg of the series, Juliare went from placing fourth in the opening leg on August 2 to earning a close second place finish in the following round on August 11, and coming out on top in Saturday's final. The win was her third this year in 16 starts and 16th lifetime pushing her bankroll to $121,653. Juliare is trained by Campbell and owned by P.E.I.'s Ambrose Laybolt and Michael Bailey of Morell, and Gerard Baldwin of Mount Stewart.
General Luckypercy completed a sweep of the Spud Island Classic Series with a 1:55 triumph in the $9,000 final. Driver Robert Shepherd sent the six-year-old pacing mare first over and wore down her leading stablemate Skylark Hanover (Paul MacKenzie) before opening up two and three-quarter lengths on the field. Private Joke (John Holmes) came on for second over Skylark Hanover.
The Jackie Matheson trainee is owned by Jodilyn Matheson of Cambridge, Ont. and Jack Brown of Stratford, P.E.I. General Luckypercy added the Spud Island Classic trophy to her growing collection, which includes hardware from winning the Lobster Carnival Later Closer and Atlantic Aged Mares Pacing Series. She is now five-for-12 on the year and has 29 wins on her lifetime record with $160,305 banked in purse earnings.
Driven by Gilles Barrieau, four-year-old Charolettes Maggie front-stepped her way to a 1:56.3 victory in the $2,500 Spud Island Classic Consolation earlier in the day for trainer Tom Weatherbie and local owner Shaun MacIsaac.
Three-year-old pacing colts also faced off on Saturday night in the $18,000 Gold division of the Joe O'Brien Memorial with Touch Of Lightning hanging on for the career-best 1:54.3 triumph by a neck over the pocket-pulling Mr Thompson (Mike Stevenson). Trainer Earl Watts drove the consistent Articulator-Aquatic Lightning colt to his fifth win in 12 seasonal starts for P.E.I. owners Peter Smith of Charlottetown, Donald Smith of Pownal, Gerald Morrissey of Vernon Bridge, and Larry Chappell of Marshfield. Touch Of Lightning has finished no worse than third in his all of stakes starts this year.
A quartet of $4,300 Grassroots divisions contested during the afternoon card were won by Danny Campbell's Perfect Xample and Corey MacPherson in 1:59.4; the streaking Dusty Lane Buddy in 1:58.1 with John MacDonald driving for trainer Ron MacDonald; Wade Sorrie trainee Smooth Talkin Dan and catch-driver Gilles Barrieau in 1:59.1; and Stimulus Bill and Marc Campbell in 1:57.1 for horseman Darren Smith.
Saturday's $2,500 Norman MacPhail Memorial Pace featured a battle of the MacDonald brothers with James MacDonald prevailing aboard Lils Destiny after settling for a pocket ride behind favourites Macnamarra and Anthony MacDonald early on and then scooting up the pylons for the 1:55 triumph. Bet The House (John MacDonald) edged out Macnamarra for second. Meliss Hawco trains and co-owns the five-year-old, who lowered his lifetime mark with the victory. Thomas Hawco Jr. of Sydney, N.S also co-owns.
Anthony MacDonald later captured the $3,000 Papermaker Pace with the Rene Allard-trained Gd Airliner, who rebounded after making a break in his Gold Cup & Saucer Trial with a 1:54.3 effort. The four-year-old rallied wide from the back of the pack to prevail by three-quarters of a length over Aled Hanover (Alex Sobey) and pacesetter I D K (Paul MacKenzie). Gd Airliner is owned by Allard, Gilles Fleury of Mascouche, Que., Philadelphia's Howard Taylor, and Nevada's Abraham Basen.
Driver Mike Stevenson swept both Alpine Claiming Series Finals during the evening card. Brian Embleton trainee Edgewater Shadofax won the $5,100 mares final in 1:59.1 for owners Linda Hughes and William Smythe of Fredericton, N.B. while Casimir Hotshot captured the $6,200 final for horses and geldings in 1:56.3 for trainer-owner Jimmy Davis of Mount Uniacke, N.S.
Cross-country traveller Heza Promise upset the $2,500 Alpine Claiming Series Consolation with his 1:59.3 winning effort during the afternoon card. Trainer-driver Terry Gallant also co-owns the eight-year-old with Mike Ramsay of Summerside, P.E.I.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following links:
Wow what a great Gold Cup
Wow what a great Gold Cup race.Congratulation to Tyler and Eighteen. The fact that the horses are going faster makes this race even more exciting. I want to thank all of the owners,trainers,drivers and everyone associated with these great horses for taking time out of a busy schedule and come to our race. It does not have the huge purse as some of the other big races carry but what we have is a love of harness racing. The atmosphere that surrounds Old Home Week cannot be equalled any where. The people that return year after year and pass on what a fantastic time they had means a lot to everyone involved with OHW. We have a lot of people to thank for this, as a show like this takes many hours of hard work. When the people at the top care about the product than the product will succeed. (Thank you for caring.)I want to thank all ticket sellers for doing a great job. It is tough when many bettors including myself wait until the last minute to make our wagers and we expect you to print every one of them.Job Well Done. I also have to thank Vance Cameron. I have been to a lot of racetracks in my time and have heard a lot of announcers and Vance is #1 in my book. He makes every race exciting even if it's not.It is always a little sad when this week comes to an end but then you realize Old Home Week is less than a year away and it brings a smile to your face.P.S. I can't wait to see Larry's Pictures in the next Post Calls. Thanks for the show. David Watts
Terrific horse race, the
Terrific horse race, the Moore family had Eighteen in tip-top form and he equalled the fastest mile in Maritime harness racing. Garry MacDonald was also very impressive in winning the James "Roach" MacGregor final with Panmunjom. Another excellent Old Home Week of racing. Thank you P.E.I. for putting on such a fine show.