CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Upsets were the rule rather than the exception at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday evening when all three Gold Series Eliminations went to sophomore pacing colts overlooked by fans at the Campbellville oval.
Stonebridge Premio started the parade of upstarts with a 1:52.1 score in Race 2, stalking pacesetter Make It Brief through fractions of :26.4, :55.2 and 1:24 before sneaking by in the stretch to score the three-quarter length victory. Make It Brief settled for the second-place finisher’s share of the $42,874 purse, while favourite Casimir Camotion was a well beaten third after making an early break.
Jack Moiseyev drove Stonebridge Premio to his second straight Gold Elimination victory for Robert Waxman of Ancaster and trainer Brett Pelling and the veteran reinsman said the Camluck colt was well in hand at the wire.
“He was pretty strong. Once he got up next to (Make It Brief) he just swelled right up and went by him,” said Moiseyev. “He had plenty left.”
The Confederation Cup winner will be looking for his first Gold Final win this season in next Monday’s $130,000 battle and has already guaranteed himself a spot in the season ending Super Final with 142 points.
In the second Gold Elimination driver Mario Baillargeon also used come from behind tactics to earn Dreamfair Titan his first victory in Gold Series action. Leaving from Post 6, the pair landed in sixth, where they sat patiently until rolling out three-wide at the three-quarter pole and lining the leaders up in their sights.
By the top of the stretch Dreamfair Titan had closed the gap to three and three-quarter lengths, and a powerful finishing kick earned him the three-quarter length victory in 1:52.4.
Pacesetter and fan favourite Armbro Acquire hung on for second, while Everton closed well to finish third.
Jason Libby trains Dreamfair Titan for John and Mary Lamers of Ingersoll and the young horseman attributed the Run The Table son’s first Gold Series triumph to an astute drive by Baillargeon and an equipment change made after the Oct. 5 Gold Final at Windsor Raceway.
“That was kind of the game plan; let them all settle and give him a trip,” said Libby. “Everybody said he hung last week, so we made a bridle change (Blind bridle to Open bridle with side rolls) and it worked. He digs in a little more when he can see horses coming up beside him.”
The win moved Dreamfair Titan into the top 10 and another solid finish in next week’s Final should see the colt advance to the $300,000 Super Final on Nov. 8.
The biggest upset of the evening came in the sixth race when favourite The Mighty Po Po went off stride at the three-quarters and left the race in the hands of pacesetter Winning Breed, who dug in down the stretch to eke out a head victory over a hard closing Rustys Gold. Ryans Camluck, the second longest shot on the board, rounded out the top three.
Paul MacDonell guided Winning Breed to the 1:53.1 score for trainer Mike Wade and owners Betty Roberts of Little Britain, Bruce Woodrow of Woodville and E And G Livestock Ltd. of Milton, and was pleased with the way things worked out for the Albert Albert son.
“I think he likes to get covered up for a ways, but today he was left alone on the front-end and kind of stole a second quarter (:29.1), which really helped him,” said MacDonell from the winner’s enclosure. “I thought I would hear from them (favourites The Mighty Po Po and Boulder Creek) in the lane, but my colt was game right to the wire.”
The top three finishers from each elimination will return to Mohawk Racetrack next Monday, Oct. 20 for the last Gold Final of their careers, while fourth-place finishers Border Patrol, HBFS Storm and Boulder Creek await the results of Thursday’s random draw to see if their name is added to the roster for the $130,000 contest.