REXDALE, ON — Saturday’s $2.4 million Super Final Championship belonged to trainer James �Friday’ Dean, as the Campbellville resident’s four starters delivered two impressive victories and one third-place finish.
Dean’s phenomenal evening got started in Race 6 when Domitian Hanover and legendary driver John Campbell captured the two-year-old pacing colt final with a tremendous effort up the outside from Post 9, stopping the clock at 1:52.3 to best Twin B Survivor and Sipwiththepres.
“He is just one of those horses, he has a great mind for racing,” said Campbell after the race. “He gives you everything he has.”
Owned by brothers Clay and Scott Horner of Toronto, ON, Domitian Hanover has always been slightly under rated by the pair.
“Clay and I went down to Hanover Shoe Farms last October and this was one of the first colts they showed us. I rated him a six and a half out of 10,” recalled Scott Horner. “My main concerns were that he looked curby and weak behind, and I was not convinced that he was a happy colt.”
At the Harrisburg Yearling Sale one month later, the Horner’s took a second look at the son of Camluck and Debras Charm after being outbid on several colts that ranked higher than Domitian Hanover. Just minutes before the colt entered the sales ring they decided to take a chance on him and wound up the successful bidders at $30,000 US.
“My love is training the babies and watching them develop their potential,” continued Horner. “I trained this colt and he was fine, he was good gaited, but Friday said from the get go, �This is a good colt.’
“So the real tribute should go to Friday, because Friday believed in this colt from the get go, unlike me.”
Four races after Domitian Hanover grabbed his second straight win, the small but mighty Doonbeg did the same, rocketing down the windswept Woodbine stretch to snatch up a three-quarter length victory in 1:51.4.
“I’ve been a fan of Doonbeg since the first time I sat behind him,” said driver Jody Jamieson in the winner’s circle. “People have just been getting on the band wagon, and we’re more than happy to have them, eh, Friday.
“He’s an unbelievable animal,” agreed Dean. “It’s been a fantastic night.”
The Horner’s share ownership on Doonbeg with Dean’s former mentor and employer Stew Firlotte, and the Orlando, FL resident was on hand for the diminutive colt’s big victory.
“I’m glad he could make it, he’s looking well,” said Dean of Firlotte, who has battled a variety of health problems over the last few years. “I’m really glad the horse showed up tonight.”
The win boosted the Camluck colt’s sophomore record to eight wins, four seconds and two thirds in 16 starts for earnings of $590,757.
Two-year-old pacing filly Rosapenna put the icing on Dean’s cake when she earned a third-place finish in a 1:53.2 mile that saw Michelles Power collar pacesetter and heavy favourite Luck Of Michelle at the wire.
“My filly is kind of a big, long filly and our bikes were side by side so I wasn’t sure,” said winning driver Mark MacDonald of the close finish. “It was a gutsy effort from both of them.”
The 1:53.2 mile was the second straight victory for Michelles Power, who captured the Oct. 5 Gold Final at Rideau Carleton Raceway for trainer Bruce Goit and owner-breeder Jeffrey Snyder of New York, NY.
The other jaw dropping upset came in the three-year-old trotting colt championship when favourite Majestic Son went off stride at the start and the fans’ second choice Was It A Dream followed suit seconds later.
Sitting in fifth through the early going, trainer Tom Durand decided to roll Yorktown Gunner to the outside when he failed to see Majestic Son materialise on his right and the pair made steady progress toward pacesetter Investor, hitting the top of the stretch just a head back in second. Down the lane Yorktown Gunner reeled in Investor and then held off a late charge from Strider and Colonel Talbot to claim the Super Final victory in a personal best 1:56.
“I knew someone made a break early and by the time I got to the quarter pole and I didn’t see Majestic Son coming, I figured it might be him,” said Durand, who trains Yorktown Gunner for his wife June Durand of Puslinch and Lynn Baker of Shreve, OH. “I thought this might be my opportunity to go.
“He’s not the kind of horse that can race tough from the back of the field, but when he thinks he’s in a race he really digs in.”
Sent off as the Woodbine fans’ last choice at 113 to one, Yorktown Gunner returned $229.30 to win and $53.10 to place. No show wagering was permitted on the race given Majestic Son’s previous dominance of the field.
Woodbine fans also made Pure Ivory the prohibitive favourite in the three-year-old trotting filly Super Final, but unlike her masculine peer, the Striking Sahbra daughter cruised to a 1:56.4 victory over a hard charging Porsche Hall and Birminghim. The win, her tenth in 16 sophomore starts, boosted Pure Ivory’s lifetime earnings to $1,141,167.
“This is my first horse that made a million,” said a jubilant Jerry Vanboekel, who admitted he was not crazy about the idea of Woodbine staffers creating a sign commemorating Pure Ivory’s $1 million accomplishment prior to the race. “I didn’t like the idea, but we won, so it was good luck.”
The Bright resident shares ownership on Pure Ivory with driver Steve Condren of Milton, breeder Harry Rutherford of Mount Pleasant and trainer Brad Maxwell’s wife Christina Maxwell of Cambridge. The group were delighted with the filly’s second Super Final triumph — she also captured the $300,000 season finale at two — but Vanboekel noted that they are already looking forward to her next outing.
“She’s got one bigger race coming up, the Breeders Crown, in two weeks and that would be the thrill of a lifetime,” he explained. “This was beautiful, but that would be a real feather in the cap.”
The other Super Final champions crowned on Saturday night were two-year-old trotting filly Carolyn AS, who hit the wire in 1:58.3 for ACL Stuteri Inc. of Paris, KY, two-year-old trotting colt Beer Budget, who was a 1:59 winner for trainer Chris Beaver of Rockwood and his mother Johanna Beaver of Delaware, OH, and three-year-old pacing filly In Trepid Water, who posted a 1:52.3 triumph from Post 10 for trainer Bob McIntosh of LaSalle and his fellow breeders C S X Stables of Liberty Center, OH.
For complete results please go to:
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rwdbssa.html