A pair of Jimmy Takter trainees swept the first two $30,000 William Wellwood Memorial Trot eliminations for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings on Friday night at Mohawk Racetrack while Broad Bahn turned in a dazzling 1:55.1 victory in the final event for Michael Vanderkemp
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In the opening elimination, Leader Of The Gang tied the track record for two-year-old trotting colts with his 1:55.2 winning effort, but that mark was later lowered as Broad Bahn stopped the clock in 1:55.1 and equaled the Canadian record.
In the first elimination, driver Ron Pierce sent Leader Of The Gang to the lead from Post 4 while Edit (Brian Sears), Rarely Ordinary (John Campbell) and even-money favourite Talespinner (Mario Baillargeon) made early breaks off the gate. After a :27.4 first quarter, Blue Porsche (Trevor Ritchie) pulled the pocket and was stretched out before clearing at the half in :56.3.
As Blue Porsche raced to three-quarters in 1:26.1, Pierce had Leader Of The Gang out for the re-take and the Muscles Yankee-Fraulien Bluestone colt devoured his rival in the stretch and opened up five and a half lengths. The winning time of 1:55.2 equaled Senor Glide's track record for freshmen trotting colts set in 2009. Delcrest Julian (Anthony MacDonald) was the runner-up with Big Strike (Brad Kramer) finishing back in third.
When asked about the early breakers, Pierce noted that a few colts got jammed up as the starting gate idled at the start of the race.
"This colt, he can get in the pocket with two fingers," Pierce said of Leader Of The Gang. "I could see Blue Porsche beginning to tire and just got him to the outside and he trotted strong."
Leader Of The Gang paid $5.60 to win as the 9-5 second choice. He picked up his fifth win in seven starts pushing his bankroll to $246,218. The winner of the New Jersey Sires Stakes Championship earlier this season is trained by Takter and owned by Christina Takter, Brixton Medical Ab, Joyce McClelland, and R A W Equine Inc.
Pastor Stephen rallied from off the pace and survived a judges' inquiry to capture the second elimination for Takter.
Big Rigs (John Campbell) was first to fire off the gate with Mister Herbie (Rick Zeron) rolling up to take control at the :27 first quarter mark. Refusing to sit a pocket trip, Big Rigs made a backstretch brush and hit the half in :56.4, followed by three-quarters in 1:26.4.
Meanwhile, Ridgeandfamous (Richard Beinhauer) had moved underway from the backfield flushing Pastor Stephen and Yannick Gingras out from third. At that point, Ridgeandfamous rode up on Pastor Stephen's wheel and made a break, causing the inquiry. Pastor Stephen continued to chase Big Rigs and got up for the half-length score in 1:56. Bruce The Brave (Randy Waples) rounded out the top three.
The judges' inquiry turned into a driver's objection launched by Beinhauer against Gingras, but was overruled. The judges determined that Gingras and Pastor Stephen already established position before Beinhauer and Ridgeandfamous made contract with Pastor Stephen's wheel.
“I had some flashbacks there [to the Peter Haughton] and didn’t feel too good for a few minutes," said Gingras referring Pastor Stephen's placing in the $500,000 event on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands. "I thought I was in the right [tonight] but I thought I was right at the Meadowlands too so you never know what is going to happen."
The win was Pastor Stephen's fifth of the season in six outings. His only loss came in the Haughton after he was set back from first to sixth for causing interference.
“When I got to drop back in on Big Rigs’ back in the stretch, I was confident in my colt. That definitely bravened my horse up. He loves to win and has never been beat yet as far as I’m concerned."
The son of Cantab Hall-Gala Dream paid $3.20 to win as the popular choice. Christina Takter, John Fielding and Brittany Farms share ownership of Pastor Stephen, who has banked $117,315 in his career.
In the final elimination, Broad Bahn pulled off a mild 7-1 upset with his record-setting score after making a break over a sloppy track in last week's Champlain Stakes.
Driven by Jack Moiseyev, Broad Bahn left from Post 8 and settled into the pocket behind Just In (Mike Saftic). After a :27.3 opening quarter, the son of Broadway Hall-Madonarail rolled to command and cruised past stations of :57.2 and 1:27 en route to a two and a half length score in 1:55.1. The time of the mile equaled Lucky Chucky's Canadian record for freshmen trotting colts, set at Woodbine Racetrack in 2009.
Favourite Neal (Brian Sears) advanced first up to place with Whiskey Tax (John Campbell) finishing third.
“He felt good but after last week making a break I babied him off the gate, which I didn’t have to as it turned out,” noted Moiseyev in the winner's circle.
“After he made a break last week, he still caught the field and finished fifth, so I knew he was a good horse. Once I got to the lead tonight and got easy fractions, he was just cruising. I was feeling confident around the last turn. He’s a big, strong horse and he was strong at the wire.”
Vanderkemp trains the winner of three races in seven starts and $90,536 for Fam Alber Horse Racing Llc.
Broad Bahn paid $16.00 to win.
The top three finishers from each elimination advance to next week's $500,000 final with the winner’s getting to choose their post positions. Fourth-place finisher Gotabgoodtoblucky also drew in to the final.
Here is a look at the field in post position order for the $500,000 Wellwood Memorial:
1. Bruce The Brave
2. Pastor Stephen
3. Leader Of The Gang
4. Broad Bahn
5. Big Rigs
6. Gotabgoodtoblucky
7. Delcrest Julian
8. Big Strike
9. Whiskey Tax
10. Neal
To view Friday's results, click here.