Ontario’s gifted three-year-old trotters and pacers stormed into Innisfil on Saturday night and left a pair of shattered speed records in their wake as they battled for a spot in the Georgian Downs Gold Rush.
Keystone Horatio got an aggressive drive from Randy Waples to record the first track record mile, stopping the clock in a sparkling 1:51. Waples fired the Rustler Hanover son off the gate from Post 6 and had him on top by over a length at the :26.2 opening quarter, then permitted Scott Coulter and Lennon Blue Chip to take command heading for the :54.2 half.
Waples quickly sent Keystone Horatio back into command and led the field of three-year-old pacing colts to a 1:22 three-quarters. Turning for home, the pair were five lengths ahead of the pack, leaving Waples with nothing more to do than smile for the cameras as they cruised across the finish line in record setting time, three-fifths of a second faster than the previous record held by former Ontario Sires Stakes stars Armbro Balmoral and Bigtime Ball.
Fun Of The Game closed well to be second in the $40,000 Gold Elimination, while Amillionpennies had to overcome interference at the three-quarters to claim the third-place share.
The other pacing colt elimination trophy went home with The Mohegan Pan, who bested fan favourite Deuce Seelster to claim the 1:51.1 victory, his second straight.
Not content to let the colts steal the spotlight, sophomore trotting filly Somebody To Love stepped onto the track in the very next race and laid down her own record setting mile. The Angus Hall miss and driver Luc Ouellette carved four-fifths of a second off the 1:56.4 mark set by Caught My Eye in Gold Series action last summer.
Starting from Post 4, Somebody To Love was sitting fourth on the rail as Condi Lane led the fillies to a :28.2 opening fraction. Heading toward the :58.1 half Ouellette sent the fan favourite after the lead, and the pair fought off a challenge from Hornby Gem en route to a 1:27.3 three-quarters, before sailing home to a one and a half length victory in 1:56.
The reigning Gold Final champion, Somebody To Love is trained by Darren McCall for the Mentally Stable of Delray Beach, Florida, and boasts a record of three wins, one second and one third in six sophomore starts. The Angus Hall miss has earned $147,185 this season for a career total of $567,478.
Condi Lane stayed game for second, while Appleby Hall was well back in third.
The other trotting filly Gold Eliminations were also captured by daughters of Angus Hall — Benediction Lindy, who stopped the teletimer at 1:56.4, and Warrawee June, who captured her fourth win of the year with a 1:56.1 effort.
Hit The Mark, owned by Arpad Szabo of Brantford, John Yanevski and Mickey Sudar of Whitby, and John Bach of Goshen, N.Y., inherited a win in the second trotting colt elimination when Pizzazzed was placed from first to fifth for interfering with Andiron Springs. Hit The Mark and driver Michael Langdon were just a nose behind Pizzazzed in the 1:56 mile, with last year’s division champion Windsong Espoir only a neck behind.
Rob Fellows trains Hit The Mark, who now has two wins, one second and one third to his credit through five starts. The Striking Sahbra son made a disappointing break in the Gold Series season opener and had to settle for racing in the $20,000 consolation rather than the $120,000 Final.
May Gold Final champ B Strike Three extended his Ontario Sires Stakes win streak to three with a 1:55.4 mile in the first trotting colt elimination, while consolation winner Define The World posted a matching time in the last trotting colt skirmish.
Thornton resident David Byron will not have to settle for the consolation at Georgian Downs next weekend, as Gabrielles Girl stepped up with a third-place effort in the first pacing filly elimination. The Camotion daughter, owned by Ian Mcintosh of Alliston and John Van Reenen of Cayuga, paced under the wire four and half lengths behind fan favourite Has An Attitude and runner-up Gerries Madison in the 1:52.1 mile.
World record holder Voelz Hanover made a victorious return to Ontario Sires Stakes action in the other pacing filly elimination, holding off Im Just Special to claim the 1:52.3 win.
The top finishers from each elimination will return to Georgian Downs next Saturday, June 28 for their respective $120,000 Gold Final, part of the track’s innovative Gold Rush night, which also features the Masters Series Finals.
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Today's Weather 
Clear and 26°C
Clear and 26°C
