Little Brown Fox held off a late surge by Hambletonian winner Market Share to capture his $40,000 Canadian Trotting Classic elimination for three-year-olds on Saturday evening at Mohawk Racetrack.
The Jimmy Takter trainee, who was fresh off a 1:51.4 stakes, track and Canadian record performance in last Saturday’s lone Simcoe Stakes division at the Campbellville, Ont. oval, returned to victory lane and notched his sixth triumph of the season.
Little Brown Fox got away third during a :27.2 first quarter, which was carved out by Beer Summit (Mike Vanderkemp). As the field of sophomores approached the backstretch, driver Yannick Gingras moved Little Brown Fox to the front, but a first-up Prestidigitator (Sylvain Filion) applied pressure to the leader and clocked the half in :56.1 from the outside. The colt then swiftly cleared and remained on top to cut the three-quarters in 1:24.
Once Little Brown Fox was shown open racetrack into the stretch, he took the lead before the seven-eighths marker and got under the wire in 1:53. The 7-5 favourite, Market Share (Tim Tetrick), who was parked out every step of the mile, rallied to finish second by a head while Prestidigitator faded to third.
“Actually he was a little bit hot [tonight during post parade], but he was night and day from last week,” said Gingras after the victory. “Last week, he was really a struggle. I was worn out before the race even started, but tonight he was pretty good. They put an ear hood on him and I think that definitely helped him to keep him a little more quite.”
The son of Muscles Yankee-Malvictorian has a record of 7-2-4 from 20 lifetime starts. The bay lifted his career earnings to $561,475 for owners Christina Takter of New Jersey, Toronto's John and Jim Fielding, and Brittany Farms of Kentucky.
Little Brown Fox returned $5 to win as the second choice.
In the other Canadian Trotting Classic elimination, Knows Nothing got up in the final strides to score in a new lifetime mark of 1:52.4.
The Jeff Gillis pupil was parked out in second as Money On My Mind (Andy Miller) clocked the opening panel in :27.4. Driver Jody Jamieson and the 3-5 favourite then made a bid for command, but before Knows Nothing cleared, Gym Tan Laundry (Jack Moiseyev) went three-wide to take the lead before the half in :55.2.
Gym Tan Laundry held the front past the three-quarters in 1:23.3, but in the stretch, Knows Nothing was able to match strides with the leader and poke a nose in front at the wire to win. Guccio (Jimmy Takter) rallied for third.
Jamieson admitted that he wasn’t sure Knows Nothing was the one who prevailed in the photo-finish.
“Jack [Moiseyev] was still going, he can get them to go like almost nobody else,” said the reinsman from the winner’s circle. “I was hoping to win and I felt I was going to win halfway down the stretch, but under the wire I thought I was beat. The inside horse usually has the slight advantage.”
The son of Kadabra-Savvy Yankee, who was unraced as a rookie, has a record of 9-1-1 from 13 outings with $395,691 in earnings for owners Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont., Marvin Katz of Toronto, Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont. and J Gillis G Stay of Hillsburg, Ont.
Knows Nothing paid $3.20 to win.
The top five finishers from each elimination advance to the $1-million Canadian Trotting Classic final set for Saturday, September 15.
Here is a look at the field in post position order:
1. Market Share
2. Solvato
3. Little Brown Fox
4. Knows Nothing
5. Money On My Mind
6. Gym Tan Laundry
7. My MVP
8. Guccio
9. Prestidigitator
10. Appomattox
AE: Modern Family
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.
(With files from WEG)