CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Regally bred Buckhams Bay captured the fastest of three $40,000 Gold Eliminations at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday evening.

In rein to Jacques Hebert, the son of Ken Warkentin and Merles Image sprinted away from Post 2 and faced fierce pressure from start to finish, first from Bruce The Brave and then Max Money. Through fractions of :13.4, :28.2, :58.3, 1:28.1, and 1:42.2, Buckhams Bay stayed focused on his objective while his challengers made errors, and through the stretch the colt was able to draw away from the field to a six and one-quarter length victory in 1:57.2.

Hebert engineered the impressive effort for Woodlawn, ON resident John Smith, who bred, owns and trains Buckhams Bay. The youngster comes by his skill honestly, boasting among his half siblings the $1.1 million winner Mc Cooeye and $337,914 winner Merles Pearl.

Smith prepared Buckhams Bay for his Gold Series debut with a pair of qualifiers at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa. On June 17 the colt was a one and one-quarter length winner in 2:04.3 and on June 24 he was a runaway 16 and a half length winner in 2:03.3.

Second and third-place finishers Tymal Colossus and Delcrest Julian also advanced out of the first elimination into next Monday’s $130,000 Gold Final.

The second elimination brought fans out of their seats as three colts hit the wire abreast. When the dust cleared, Holy Kadabra was awarded the victory, with fan favourite Attorney Hanover bumped up from third to second and Blazin Benny set down from second to third due to a late break.

Starting from Post 4, Holy Kadabra and driver Rick Zeron of Oakville, ON carved the early fractions of :14 and :29.3 before handing things over to Blazin Benny heading for the 1:00.2 half. Blazin Benny carried on to a 1:29.4 three-quarters and looked well in hand turning for home, but Holy Kadabra and Attorney Hanover were shifting into high gear and accelerated down the stretch to the 1:59.1 finish that saw a mere neck separate the top three colts.

Owned by Dr. Frederick Albert of Prescott, ON and trained by Iroquois, ON resident Jason Gilchrist, Holy Kadabra also learned his early lessons in qualifiers at Rideau Carleton Raceway. On June 17 the son of Kadabra and $114,735 winner Holyrood recovered from an early break to post a 2:05 third-place result, then the youngster celebrated Canada Day with a resounding 15 length victory in 2:03.1.

A modest $6,000 purchase at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale, Holy Kadabra has already turned a $14,000 profit.

The final elimination saw Plato earn a head victory over pacesetter Whatabout Tom in 1:58. After sitting third for much of the mile, Plato sprinted down the stretch to steal the victory from Whatabout Tom. Imperial Count enjoyed a covered up trip around the outside to land the third-place share of the $40,000 purse. Calipari also landed a spot in next week’s Gold Final after winning the draw amongst the three fourth-place finishers.

George and Gregory Johnson of Milton, ON share ownership on Plato, with Gregory also handling training duties. Trotting specialist Trevor Ritchie of Acton, ON piloted the son of Angus Hall and Pom Derable to the victory. Plato earned his way into Monday’s Gold Series season opener off a 2:02.4 qualifying effort at Mohawk on June 25 that also saw the gelding make a late rush to victory.

Plato and Ritchie will need to employ their come from behind style again in next week’s $130,000 Gold Final after drawing the outside Post 10. The complete line up for the Monday, July 19 skirmish is as follows:

$130,000 Gold Final — Monday, July 19

Post 1 Blazin Benny

Post 2 Attorney Hanover

Post 3 Delcrest Julian

Post 4 Whatabout Tom

Post 5 Calipari

Post 6 Imperial Count

Post 7 Holy Kadabra

Post 8 Buckhams Bay

Post 9 Tymal Colossus

Post 10 Plato

For complete results please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/racing/results/data/r0712mohsn.dat.