REXDALE, ON — Monday evening heralds the start of the Ontario Sires Stakes season for the two-year-old pacing colts, with three $40,735 Gold Eliminations slated for Woodbine Racetrack.
Trainer Mario Macri will send a pair of youngsters to the post and the Oakville resident is hoping Fullphilurfantasy and Armbro Chivalry repeat the solid efforts they delivered in qualifying action during the past two weeks. Fullphilurfantasy posted a :26.3 last quarter in a third-place effort in his June 12 qualifier and Armbro Chivalry heads into the fourth race off a June 19 win and a fourth-place finish on June 12.
“Phil has always been like that. I didn’t know he was going to come a back half in :56, but he’s always been all race mode,” says Macri. “The other one (Armbro Chivalry), you have to chase him because he doesn’t know anything, but he has the ability.”
Macri plucked Fullphilurfantasy out of the Canadian Classic Yearling Sale last fall for a modest $8,000 and acquired Armbro Chivalry at the Forest City Yearling for just $6,000.
“I picked Phil out, but I had turned the page on Armbro Chivalry because I thought he’d go for too much,” recalls the trainer. “But my owner, I get in the arena and he’s got his hand up, and the bidding stops at $6,000.”
A son of Island Fantasy and $94,807 winner Whitehorse Fever, Fullphilurfantasy and driver Roger Mayotte will make their racing debut from Post 4 in the second race on Monday. Carmine Cesta of Toronto and Eric Udrzal of Mississauga share ownership on the colt, who prepped for the Gold Elimination with a training mile on Thursday.
“He came up with a body rash so I had to scratch him out of the qualifier last Saturday, but he trained today in 2:04, with a back half in a minute, so he’ll be okay,” says Macri.
Macri shares ownership on Armbro Chivalry with Cesta, Udrzal and Vince Mastrangelo of Brampton. The Grinfromeartoear colt makes his first stakes start from Post 2 in the fourth race.
“I’ll be happy with a couple of cheques and if one of them makes it to the Final that’s great,” says Macri, who trained Daylon Boy to an $82,678 freshman season in 2003. “I’m just hoping for the best.”
The top three finishers from each elimination will return to Woodbine Racetrack on Monday, July 5 for the first $130,000 Gold Final of their careers. The colts star in Races 2, 4 and 5 on Woodbine’s Monday, June 28 program, which gets under way at 7:40 pm.