LONDON, ON — The last time they battled in a $100,000 race, Deuces And Jacks, Daddy Mac and Cam Cool took home 87 per cent of the purse. The talented trio will reprise their rivalry in Friday’s $130,000 Gold Final at Western Fair Raceway, and their connections are hoping their three-year-old pacing colts can match or better their success.

In that May 24 race — the Clearwater Cup Final at Hiawatha Horse Park — Deuces And Jacks came out on top, and the Million Dollar Cam son is hoping he can deliver a repeat performance on Friday, in spite of being handicapped by Post 6.

“He drew the eight in the Clearwater Cup Final, and the six Friday, which is about the same,” laments Donald Lowes, who owns and trains Deuces And Jacks. “We don’t draw good; but he’ll be there.”

After competing exclusively in the Grassroots program as a two-year-old, Deuces And Jacks made an impressive leap into the top tier with a 1:54.1 victory in last Friday’s Gold Elimination. With Al Cullen in the race bike, Deuces And Jacks fired out of Post 4 and hit the quarter mile marker in a sharp :26.3, the fastest opening quarter of the three eliminations.

“I never saw him leave before. I never thought he could leave like that,” admits Paris resident Lowes. “I never thought he was going to be this good. He was a nice colt all along, but he could never win, he was always second.”

At two Deuces And Jacks made six Grassroots starts, scored one win, three seconds and one third for earnings of $23,928. In just five starts this season the Million Dollar Cam son has already posted two wins and three seconds for earnings of $88,446.

Cam Cool and Daddy Mac, who are both trained by Bob McIntosh, also made their Gold Series debuts at Western Fair last week. Cam Cool captured his elimination with a front end performance in 1:55 and will start from Post 1 on Friday, while Daddy Mac carved all the fractions in his elimination before getting caught by Sergei Seelster at the wire, and will start from Post 3 in the Final.

“That doesn’t hurt,” says McIntosh of his duo’s post positions. “It’s a big deal there.”

If he had his way, McIntosh would like to see the Camluck sons hustle off the gate and then control the pace from the front on Friday, but the LaSalle resident has logged enough training hours to know that things rarely work out the way you hope.

“Daddy Mac can really get out of there good, and the other horse is decent too,” says the Hall of Fame horseman. “The horse on the rail controls the race, so the perfect place would be to sit one-two, but they can both race from behind.”

McIntosh, who shares ownership on Cam Cool with his cousin Al McIntosh of Leamington and C S X Stables of Liberty Center, OH and on Daddy Mac with Leda Farms LLC of Medfield, MA, started both geldings a few times last season, but opted to quit with them when they started to show some wear and tear on their young bodies.

“They were both in the same boat, they both had a little bit of colt soreness,” he recalls. “They both raced, but were no big success so we quit with them.

“They trained back really well, had a little different attitude, and grew up a little bit; grew up a whole lot actually,” he adds.

The strategy clearly paid off, as Cam Cool now boasts a record of eight wins, two seconds and two thirds in 14 starts this season, while Daddy Mac has four wins, three seconds and one third to his credit through eight outings.

Deuces And Jacks, Cam Cool and Daddy Mac will all be looking to add another victory to their resume on Friday, as will the five other colts preparing for battle in Western Fair Raceway’s tenth race. The London oval’s outstanding Friday evening program gets under way at 7:35 pm.

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