Meridian Magic pushed her win streak to 23 after capturing both her elimination heat and the final of The Maritimer Stake, a premier event in Atlantic Canada for Canadian sired or owned three-year-old fillies, on Saturday afternoon at Exhibition Park Raceway
. The stake event is co-sponsored by Standardbred Canada and New Brunswick Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association (NBSBOA).
Elm Grove Ella and trainer-driver Clare MacDonald battled on top with Howmac Royale (Marc Campbell) through stations of :29.3, 1:00.2 and 1:31 in the first of two $10,200 elimination heats with Elm Grove Ella edging out her rival for the win in 2:00.2. Seawind Allegra (Danny Romo) and Coco Rose (Jeff Lilley) also advanced to the final with their third and fourth place finishes. The slight favourite, C H Yocoohno (Kenny Arsenault), made an early break putting herself out of contention. The winning daughter of Largo-Elm Grove Starlite is owned by Ian Banks of Truro, Susan Karrel of Great Village, NS and Charles McDonald of Winsloe, PE.
Meridian Magic and trainer-driver Kenny Arsenault got away third from Post 8 in the second elimination. Longshot Cruising Champette (Terry Gallant) showed the way through early fractions of :29.3 and :59.2 with Meridian Magic moving underway at that point. The daughter of Largo-Hot Asset pushed ahead past three-quarters in 1:29 and battled with the pacesetter into the stretch before kicking away to score in 1:58.3 by a length and a half. Cruising Champette stayed for second with Scootingforsuccess (Gilles Barrieau) and Woodmere Sandollar (Stephen Trites) finishing third and fourth.
Four races later, Meridian Magic returned for the $13,600 final and trounced her rivals with a five and a half length wire-to-wire score. Leaving from Post 2 this time, the unstoppable filly raced past stations of :29.1, :59.1 and 1:28.4 before stopping the clock in 1:58.4. Scootingforsuccess was the runner-up with Cruising Champette edging out Elm Grove Ella and Seawind Allegra to show.
Meridian Magic has had a storybook season for co-owners James Gillis and breeder Barry Martin of Sydney, NS. She is 12-for-12 on the year with $58,065 banked. Lifetime, she has won 23 of 26 starts and has never finished off the board to earn $134,427.
To view Saturday's results, click here.