Nebupanezzar used a powerful late move to win a thrilling edition of the $820,000 Governor's Cup for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers on Saturday night at Woodbine Racetrack.
The son of No Pan Intended - Western Wonder kicked out off cover turning for home and was just able to surge past the previously undefeated Art Colony (Randy Waples) for his biggest career win to date.
Steve Condren was in the bike behind Nebupanezzar and floated away in sixth position in the opening quarter, which was battled out in :26.4. Amazon Art (James Morrile, Jr.) and Major In Art (Mark MacDonald) did the early tussling before Art Colony made a snap move to command in the second quarter.
Art Colony continued in front past the second marker in :55.1 with Well Said (Ron Pierce) attempting a rush on the outside before making a sudden break in stride. In the meantime, Dial Or Nodial (Brian Sears) attempted a first-over move and Nebupanezzar, who had elected to stay outside in the first half, picked up his cover as the field raced by three-quarters in 1:23.1.
As the field hit the top of the stretch, Dial Or Nodial began to stall and went back to the inside. At that point, Major In Art tipped out from the pocket to challenge Art Colony with Nebupanezzar swinging three-wide for the stretch drive.
Art Colony remained brave at the inside but was not able to hold off the furious rally of the winner who got up to prevail by a head. Major In Art leveled off in the late going and finished two lengths back in third. The winner returned $13.80 for the win.
Nebupanezzar – Governor's Cup Final
"He's just been getting stronger and better every week," said Condren. "That little break he had, and he had some sickness problems there for a while, but he just overcame them and turned into just a real pleasure and a real nice horse.
"He went a big trip. It just didn't work out the way I thought it would. He just overcame it all. It actually wasn't a very good drive but it worked out, the colt just came to the forefront. I hope he puts away well this fall. I look forward to driving him next year in some of the bigger races around here."
The victory increased the Bob McIntosh trainee's record to eight wins in 11 starts and vaulted him past $900,000 in seasonal earnings for the Peter Pan Stables of Pepper Pike, Ohio.
Nebupanezzar is eligible to the $300,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals on November 15 at Woodbine.
To view Saturday's results, click here.
(WEG, Photo courtesy of New Image Media)