Text Me had an easy time of it in winning Sunday night’s $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters at Mohawk Racetrack
in 1:57.3.
Randy Waples had the son of Kadabra-Dial Nile on top at every call and led through splits of :29, :58.3 and 1:28 before kicking away with a :29.3 final quarter to win over a hard-charging Zorgwijk Kingpin. Grumpy Jake also rallied well to pick up the show spot.
Sent off as the betting favourite, Text MeText Me returned $5.80 for the win.
“He just did it so easy, right from the first time I drove him he’s a really smart horse,” said Waples. “He’s perfect gaited, he’s very intelligent, he knows what he has to do and he’s well within himself doing it and he’s a real pleasure to drive. The common denominator with all the good horses I’ve drove is they’re all smart. The smart ones are the ones that are going to make you the money.”
Winning trainer Bob McIntosh said that he would not have predicted this kind of success for the colt last Fall.
“When I brought him in last Fall, I wasn’t really impressed with the way he looked,” he said. “He wasn’t one that I was really high on because he stood a little bad in front, but as time went on he just kept coming. He’s been a pleasant surprise. He hasn’t given me any problems, and he’s a happy horse and he just kind of snuck up and turned out to be one of the good ones.”
The victory was the second straight for Text Me who also won his elimination last Sunday at Mohawk. The winner’s share of the $130,000 purse boosted his seasonal earnings to just over $118,000 for McIntosh who co-owns along with the C S X Stable of Ohio and Dave Boyle of
Ontario.
The colt is eligible to the Champlain Stakes which come up on September 6 during harness racing's Grand Circuit week of stakes at Mohawk Racetrack.
(WEG)
To view Sunday’s results, click here.