INNISFIL, ON — Funny Bones kicked off a superlative evening for George and Brenda Teague Saturday with a stunning Gold Elimination victory that shattered the Georgian Downs track record for two-year-old pacing colts.

Starting from Post 1, the Grinfromeartoear son and driver Mario Baillargeon went straight to the front, reaching the opening quarter in :28. From there Baillargeon simply set the cruise control and made himself comfortable as Funny Bones breezed to a :56.4 half and 1:24.4 three-quarters. Although Beal Hanover mounted an attack through the later stages of the race, no one was able to keep up with Funny Bones as he sprinted home to the 1:52.4 victory.

Beal Hanover stayed game for second while Risky Rich claimed third-place honours, 10 lengths behind the winner.

The mile peeled three-fifths of a second off the former track record set by Banner Yankee in 2004 and came within a whisker of equalling the 1:52.3 Ontario Sires Stakes record for two-year-old pacing colts on a five-eighths mile track.

Trainer Brenda Teague of Houston, DE shares ownership on Funny Bones with her brother George Teague, Jr. of Houston, DE, Only Money Inc. of Hartly, DE and Warren Racing Stable of Harrington, DE. The partners acquired Funny Bones for $18,000 US at last fall’s Lexington Select Yearling Sale, and he arrived at Georgian Downs off a 1:58.2 qualifier at Maryland’s Rosecroft Raceway on May 31.

The Teague’s watched Funny Bones’s victory on television from Woodbine Racetrack, where they were preparing to race a pair of three-year-old pacing colts in the Pepsi North America Cup, and two hours later their evening achieved dream status when Total Truth swept down the stretch to a one length victory in the $1.5 million Final and stablemate Western Ace claimed the fifth-place finisher’s share.

Back at Georgian Downs, the freshman pacing colts slowed the pace down significantly in the last three divisions. Baillargeon made his second trip to the winner’s circle with Unspeakable in Race 4, piloting the Rustler Hanover son to a come from behind victory in 1:57.

Dr. Ian Moore trains Unspeakable for his partners William Shearer of Bedford, NS, R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, NB and Roger Burns of Vero Beach, FL. The Charlottetown, PEI resident acquired the colt for $8,200 from the Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale last fall. The youngster prepped for Saturday’s contest with a 2:02.1 win in Charlottetown on June 2.

Timely Topic also closed well to earn second-place, while pacesetter Mach It Paid settled for third but won the draw for the last spot in the $130,000 Gold Final next Saturday.

Canyoukeepasecret and Mike Saftic also opted for come-from-behind tactics to score a 1:55.4 victory in the third $29,106 Gold Elimination. The pair sprinted from sixth at the three-quarters to the victory over Warrawee Ideal, owned by Fred Brayford of Alliston, Carl Jamieson of Princeton, George Arthur Stable of Rockwood and Robin Raine of Cumbria, ENG, and Gimme A Grin.

Terry McCorkle of Chatham trains Grinfromeartoear son Canyoukeepasecret for his partner Rick North of Chatham. The colt was an $11,000 acquisition at the 2005 Forest City Yearling Sale and posted a pair of qualifying wins at Mohawk Racetrack earlier this month in preparation for his Ontario Sires Stakes debut.

The last Gold Elimination went to Twin B Survivor and Michael Langdon, who carved out all the fractions en route to a 1:55 victory over Scoundrel and Gold Comet. Cambridge resident Jack Darling trains the Apaches Fame son for his partner Daniel Smith of London. The second foal of $116,833 winner What An Attitude was a $37,000 purchase at the Forest City Yearling Sale.

The top two colts from each elimination, plus third-place finisher Mach It Paid, will return to Georgian Downs next Saturday, June 24 for their first shot at a $130,000 Gold Final. Post positions for the Final are as follows:

Post 1 Beal Hanover

Post 2 Twin B Survivor

Post 3 Scoundrel

Post 4 Canyoukeepasecret

Post 5 Mach It Paid

Post 6 Funny Bones

Post 7 Warrawee Ideal

Post 8 Timely Topic

Post 9 Unspeakable

AE1 Gold Comet

AE2 Risky Rich

AE3 Gimme A Grin

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rgeodfsa.html