Throughout the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold final for two-year-old trotting colts, it appeared that the winner would be Murmur Hanover or Creampuff Macdaddy. When the race concluded, it was nearly impossible to determine which of those two rookie trotters took home the lion's share of the purse.
Mario Baillargeon fired out elim winner Murmur Hanover alertly from Post 6 and that trotter made the lead with Creampuff Macdaddy (Jody Jamieson) trotting with him in second. Those two colts were the only ones in contention for the majority of the mile as Murmur Hanover carved out fractions of :28 to the opening quarter and :56.4 to the half.
Before Murmur Hanover passed the third panel, Jamieson pulled pocket and pressured the pacesetter through a peppy 1:26.1 three-quarter time and the battle was on down the stretch. Jamieson and Creampuff Macdaddy powered past before Baillargeon found a second wind for Murmur Hanover. The freshman trotters hit the wire virtually in unison.
In the photo, Murmur Hanover recovered to nose out Creampuff Macdaddy in a time of 1:55.2. Gotta Secret (Jason Brewer) closed well to complete the triactor.
Ben Baillargeon trains Murmur Hanover(Majestic Son - Mrs Ronerail) for R Berthiaume Inc of Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Que. A $70,000 purchase from last year’s Harrisburg Yearling Sale, Murmur Hanover notched his fourth victory from five starts and quickly banked more than $173,000 in earnings.
The time of the mile established a new OSS record for the fastest trotting colt on series history, knocking one-fifth of a second off Daylon Magician's 1:55.3 divisional mark.
In other Gold Series action on the Thursday card, three-year-old trotting fillies butted heads in two $40,000 eliminations. The first elim was to the delight of the longshot players as favoured Miss Paris couldn't track down Smarty Pants. At 25-1, Sylvain Filion guided the two-time winner on the year to a lifetime best 1:54.4 score in wire-to-wire fashion by three-quarters of a length over One More Ginny (Paul MacDonell). Miss Paris, bet down to 1-9, finished third.
Per Henriksen trains Smarty Pants (Kadabra - Twitty) for Stan Klemencic of Trenton, Dr. Brett Anderson of Port Hope and Asa Farm of Norwood, Ont.
MacDonell just missed in the first elimination, but would not be denied with Sugar Wheeler in the second elim. Sitting patiently behind pacesetter Daylon Miracle (Dave Wall) through fractions of :28.1, :58.2 and 1:27.2, MacDonell found room to the inside of the pacesetter to sprint home in :28 and hold off late charging rivals Frisky Strike (Mike Saftic) and Thundering Ovation (Scott Zeron) for the 1:55.2 lifetime best score.
Owned by P C Wellwood Enterprises Inc., of Cambridge, Ont., Alan Hainsworth of Mt Morris, N.Y., William Weaver III of Freehold, N.J. and Kelley Racing Stable LLC of Gansevoort, N.Y., Sugar Wheeler (Angus Hall - Quick Credit) is now 5-for-18 on the season for trainer Mike Keeling.
Here's how the fillies will line up in next week's $130,000 OSS Gold Final.
1 - DANCEHALL MISTRESS
2 - MISS PARIS
3 - SUGAR WHEELER
4 - SMARTY PANTS
5 - JUSTASMALLTOWNGIRL
6 - LEXUS HELIOS
7 - FRISKY STRIKE
8 - DAYLON MIRACLE
9 - ONE MORE GINNY
10 - THUNDERING OVATION
AE1 - WINBAK MAYA
AE2 - CIRCLES
AE3 - NORTHERN KENDRA
To view results from Thursday's card of harness racing at Mohawk, click the following link: Mohawk Thursday Results.
(Photo courtesy New Image Media)