GLOUCESTER, ON — Brancaleone captured his first lifetime victory on Sunday evening at Rideau Carleton Raceway, trotting to a 1:56.2 triumph in the second of two Gold Series Eliminations.
Leaving from Post 1, the three-year-old trotting colt sat third on the rail while Stormont Welldone, owned by Stormont Meadows of Long Sault, and Reserved Image battled to a :28.1 opening quarter and a :56.4 half. Heading for the three-quarters trainer-driver Michael Vanderkemp sent Brancaleone after the lead and when the teletimer ticked off 1:26.2 they were just a neck behind Stormont Welldone.
At the top of the stretch Brancaleone had established a three length lead and none of his peers could catch him as he trotted home to a four length victory in 1:56.2.
Good To Be King made an impressive recovery from an early break to finish second and Reserved Image trotted into third to complete a Balanced Image sweep of the top three spots. Fourth-place finisher Renegade Dream also advanced to next Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final. Favourite Last Flight Out struggled through out the mile with breaks and finished last in the field of eight.
While he had never claimed a victory, Brancaleone has been a consistent player in the top ranks this season. In the Gold Series season opener he finished second in his elimination and fifth in the Final, then delivered an outstanding effort to finish second in an elimination of the Goodtimes Stake at Woodbine Racetrack and advance to the $342,100 Final, where he just missed earning a piece of the pie with his sixth-place effort.
Back in Gold Series action at Mohawk Racetrack in June, the Balanced Image gelding, owned by Adam Victor and Son Stable of New York, NY, was second in the elimination and third in the Final.
The first elimination went to Smooth Moves, one of three colts trainer Harald Lunde sent to Ottawa for the event. In rein to trotting specialist Trevor Ritchie, the Angus Hall son also used a pocket trip and a three-quarter pole move to springboard to his first lifetime victory.
One and three-quarter lengths up on the competition, Smooth Moves trotted under the wire in a steady 1:58. Anahar Charlie and Orion King rounded out the top three, with fourth-place finisher Paco Spur and fifth-place finisher ABs Speedy Hall also advancing to next weekend’s Gold Final. Favourite, and reigning Gold Final champion, King La Conch, could not recover from an early break and finished sixth.
Campbellville resident Lunde trains Smooth Moves for his partner Hans Enggren of New Oxford, PA. Unraced at two, the colt has made a dent in his $80,000 purchase price with one win and two thirds in eight starts this year.
The colts will storm back to Rideau Carleton Raceway next Sunday, July 17 for their third $130,000 Gold Final. Post positions for the Final are as follows:
Post 1 Good To Be King
Post 2 Anahar Charlie
Post 3 ABs Speedy Hall
Post 4 Renegade Dream
Post 5 Orion King
Post 6 Smooth Moves
Post 7 Reserved Image
Post 8 Brancaleone
Post 9 Paco Spur
AE1 Stormont Welldone
AE2 King La Conch
AE3 Speeden
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rridcfsu.html