Two-year-old trotting colts and geldings squared off in a set of Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series divisions on Monday evening (Sept. 24), and fans were treated to a record-setting mile by Forbidden Trade.
In rein to Bob McClure, Forbidden Trade got away fourth in his $64,800 division while race favourite Dream Nation shot to the top and carved out panels of :28.3, :59.1 and 1:27.3. Forbidden Trade was first-over and driving at the half, and he pressed Dream Nation the rest of the way. Forbidden Trade used a :29-second closing quarter to prevail by a neck over Dream Nation in 1:56.4. Southwind Avenger was third.
“I was very impressed tonight, the way he did that, you know, first over. He never quit,” said trainer Luc Blais. “He trained good this week, and I had a good feeling for tonight, but I knew we had a big division, there were lots of good horses in that race.”
“He’s been that good all year,” said Bob McClure. “I thought he was one of the best colts, if not the best, all year. He hasn’t done much wrong this year. Every week he’s coming late, coming late, coming late, and I don’t think I’ve seen him get tired yet.”
The 1:56.4 score lowered the track record of 1:58.1 held jointly by Gotta Secret (2012), Deweylovernleaver (2015) and Knight Angel, who matched the mark earlier on Monday evening. It also lowered the OSS and Canadian record of 1:57.4 set by Daylon Magician in 2010.
Sent off at odds of 5-1, the son of Kadabra-Pure Ivory improved his rookie record to 5-0-0 from seven starts. The lion’s share of the purse lifted his earnings well over $100,000. Luc Blais trains the talented youngster for Determination of Montreal, QC.
Only For Justice gave McClure his second Gold Series score on the card thanks to his 1:57.3 triumph in the third division.
McClure sent the Dany Fontaine trainee to the lead from Post 4, and the colt sailed through intervals of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:28.4 before storming home in :28.4 to win by seven lengths over Fingals Wave. Taking home the show dough in the $65,600 division was Gold Edition.
“He wants to race. He gets around a half so handy and he can leave the gate so fast, this place is his bread and butter,” said McClure. “He’s a very fast horse though. He deserves to be in the Super Final for sure.”
Ecurie Gaetan Bono Inc of Montreal, QC bred and owns the three-time winner who upped his lifetime earnings to $69,426 with the victory. After starting his career with four straight losses, he’s managed to string together three straight wins.
Knight Angel captured the opening division in 1:58.1, and at the time it matched the track record for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings.
Sylvain Filion got away fourth with the Shane Arsenault trainee, who watched race favourite Royal Rob shoot to the top and cut the opening quarter in :29.2. Royal Rob was still in command of the tempo through middle splits of 1:00 and 1:29.1, but Knight Angel and Filion were applying heavy pressure from first over. Royal Rob dug down deep, but it wasn’t enough to fend of Knight Angel who used a :29-second closing quarter to win by a neck over Royal Rob. While Your Up was third.
Sent off at odds of 3-1, the son of Archangel-Dream Taker posted his first lifetime win while improving his overall record to 1-2-0 from six assignments. The $32,800 payday bumped his earnings to $68,178 for Arsenault and partners Justin Fisher, Gary Leeming and Giuseppe Mascia.
On the undercard, Dreamfair Eternity celebrated a blowout victory in the $8,500 Fillies & Mares Preferred 3 event.
The four-year-old daughter of Somebeachsomewhere-Dreamfair Eternal rallied in the late stages of the contest and drew clear to win by 7-1/2 lengths over Shewearsthepants in 1:54.1. Race favourite Regal Luck rounded out the Trifecta ticket.
Bill Budd trains the distaffer for owner/breeder John Lamers of Ingersoll, Ont. It was her ninth lifetime triumph, and her share of the purse bumped her overall bankroll to $43,590.
Colin Kelly and Patrick Shepherd were recognized Monday evening as the top performers of 2018 at Grand River Raceway.
Both Kelly and Shepherd are celebrating their first titles at the Elora, Ont. track.
Kelly, 25, is enjoying a career-best season. In 2018, he has driven horses to purse earnings of $1.2 million and notched 182 wins, which lists him 7th in the nation. He’s currently ranked in the season’s top five at four other Ontario tracks. At Grand River Raceway specifically, he has 54 wins from 250 starts and $286,581 in purses. He is a career winner of 477 races and $2.1 million.
Patrick Shepherd sent forward 21 winners from 99 starts at Grand River Raceway this season for earnings of $96,446. This year is a career best for Shepherd, ranking second for wins (149) and fifth for UTR (.336) in the Canadian standings. He’s also currently the season leader at Flamboro Downs and was second in the trainer standings at Georgian Downs.
(With files from OSS and Grand River Raceway)
To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results – Grand River Raceway.