The 8-5 co-favourite, In The Game, survived a last-second scrimmage at the wire to take the first of two $141,800 splits of the Eternal Camnation Stakes, an important prep race for the Shes A Great Lady Stakes for two-year-old pacing fillies, tonight at Mohawk Racetrack, in 1:55.4.
Jack Moiseyev urged the Bettors Delight daughter, Bet On Luck, to the early lead from the outside of the seven lass field, with Break The News and Jody Jamieson tucking into the pocket spot through dawdling early fractions of :28.0 and :58.1.
John Campbell bided his time with In The Game back in fourth, then made his move on the outside as the field jammed up in the far turn. Jamieson, locked in the box, looked desperately for racing room, and eventually forced Break The News into a nearly non-existent hole to dead-heat for second with Moiseyev and Bet On Luck. Meanwhile In The Game was able to stick a neck in front for the win.
In The Game, from the first crop of Pennsylvania sire, I Am A Fool, out of Elena Blue Chip (by Magical Mike), is now perfect in three lifetime starts for owners Bulletproof Enterprises of Boca Raton, Florida. Richard 'Nifty' Norman trains the filly, who was making her Mohawk
debut.
In The Game - Eternal Camnation Division
John Campbell commented, "She's got a couple of issues with her gait; we've got to get her a little smoother so she's handier when she gets in tough. That'll hurt her if she doesn't, but she's got lots of go to her and she's very game, so she does have the tools to work with.
"Nifty's just got to make some adjustments on her. I don't think it's the track or anything like that. It's just a learning curve for these young fillies, learning how to pace fast.
"I was concerned about keeping her pacing around that last turn. She got a little bumpy and rough there. I was more worried about just keeping her pacing at that point, but once she got in the lane and straightened up she kicked home real strong."
In the second Eternal Camnation split, Terroronthebeach made it a two-fer for Bulletproof Enterprises, as Jody Jamieson picked up the almost wire-to-wire win with the Western Terror filly, in 1:54.3.
Windsun Celestial (Mario Baillargeon), who held the early lead for mere seconds, rode the pocket spot for much of the mile with Fashion Week (Brian Sears) briefly challenging at the :57.3 half, but 7-5 favourite Terroronthebeach was not to be denied, despite a bold late rush from Bob McIntosh trainee, West of L A, which was good enough for second. Shes A Fan (Mark MacDonald) grabbed third and Sleigh Belle (Mike Saftic) ended up fourth.
Terroronthebeach - Eternal Camnation Division
"I wasn't sure how she'd respond against the top fillies tonight," said Jamieson. "It was unfortunate (that) she made a break last week. I let her float to the lead and she relaxed good. When I asked her, she really paced hard."
Rod Boyd trains Terroronthebeach, who was a $100,000 yearling purchase at Harrisburg in 2007.
Jamieson scored a hat trick on the night picking up two other close wins. Earlier in the card, he steered My Fella to victory in race two (1:52). Jamieson followed up his stakes win in the $38,000 Preferred Pace with a 9-1 upset in rein to Hyperion Hanover.
The five-year-old son of Camluck reached the wire ahead of Ramegade Bruiser (Randy Waples) in 1:50.2. Total Truth (Jack Moiseyev) was third.
The winner of 17 lifetime races has earned well over $400,000 for trainer Rob Fellows and the S S G Stables of North Boston, New York.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(With files from WEG)