Cool Victory landed post one for the Tuesday, Oct. 2 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final at Georgian Downs and trainer John Kopas figures the two-year-old trotting gelding is going to need all the assistance his inside post can provide.
“We need it. That’s a heck of a nice colt of Ben’s,” said Kopas, referring to two-time Gold Final winner Murmur Hanover trained by Ben Baillargeon. “There are a couple others in there that aren’t slouches either, but that colt of Ben’s is a real nice horse.”
Cool Victory finished a neck behind Murmur Hanover in last week’s Gold elimination, clocked in 1:56.3, and Kopas was very pleased with the effort. The outing was Cool Victory’s first in Gold Series action since he made a break and finished sixth in a July 16 elimination at Mohawk Racetrack.
“We had some issues with his feet giving him trouble,” Kopas explained. “He’s just got really sensitive feet, but I think we’ve got that pretty much resolved now.”
After the July 16 elimination, Cool Victory was out of action for several weeks while Kopas and his staff tried to address the gelding’s foot issues. He qualified at Mohawk Racetrack on Aug. 6, but did not race until an Aug. 24 overnight at Mohawk in preparation for a series of open stakes events. Cool Victory finished second by a nose in that start in spite of making a break, and was third in his Champlain Stakes division at Mohawk on Aug. 31.
Encouraged by the Champlain Stakes result, Kopas and his partners decided to enter the gelding in the William Wellwood Memorial eliminations on Sept. 7. Cool Victory made another break, but was able to come back on and finish third, earning a berth in the Sept. 15 final where he finished fourth.
In preparation for last week’s Gold elimination, Kopas was able to train the gelding for the first time in several weeks and plans to log another training mile before Tuesday’s final.
“Last week’s the first I trained him for a race in probably six weeks,” said Kopas. “I trained him and he showed that, I think, it helped him.”
Regular reinsman Jack Moiseyev will steer Cool Victory in Tuesday’s final for Kopas, LLK Stable of Mississauga, Kocomo Stables of Moffat, Janet Wagner of Mississauga and Gary Grieve of Union. The group would love to see the gelding return to the winner’s circle, a spot he has not visited since capturing his season opening Gold elimination at Flamboro Downs on June 27.
In addition to reigning Gold Final champion Murmur Hanover at Post 7, Cool Victory and Moiseyev also have to contend with the other elimination winner, Majestized, from post nine.
The two-year-old trotting colts will wage their Gold Final battle in the eighth race.
Moiseyev will also appear earlier in the program as the two-year-old trotting fillies arrive in Innisfil for the last Gold eliminations of their freshman campaign. The fillies will compete for a berth in their own Gold Final in races two and three.
Muscle Mass daughter Massmanian Devil will start from post six in the first $40,000 elimination, and Orillia resident Mark Clancy is hoping the filly is on her best behaviour. Through her first six Gold Series appearances the filly has made four errors, but on the two occasions when she was flawless she posted a pair of impressive third-place results.
“I just hope she has a good race and makes the final,” said Clancy, who shares ownership of the filly with trainer Blake MacIntosh of Cambridge. “We’ll see what she can do.”
Massmanian Devil heads into Tuesday’s elimination off an appearance in the Peaceful Way Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack. The filly and driver Billy Davis Jr. finished a strong fourth in their elimination on Sept. 6, but could only manage a seventh-place result in the final one week later. MacIntosh had the filly examined following the race and Clancy says there were some signs of sickness, but that she should be ready for battle on Tuesday.
The Clancys will be on hand to cheer Massmanian Devil home on Tuesday, crossing their fingers that the filly can post a top four finish. The top four finishers from each elimination will be guaranteed a berth in the Oct. 9 Gold Final, with only one fifth-place finisher advancing via random draw.
The trotting colts will be centre stage in race eight.
Post time for Georgian Downs’s Oct. 2 program is 7:25 p.m.
To view Tuesday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Tuesday Entries - Georgian Downs.
(With files from OSS)