GLOUCESTER, ON — Amigo Hall scored a definitive victory at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Thursday evening to capture his first Gold Series Final and bump his lifetime earnings over $800,000.
Starting from Post 7, the Balanced Image son and regular driver Mike Lachance made short work of the field of three-year-old trotting colts, taking command heading for the halfway marker and drawing off to a two and a half length margin before the three-quarter pole. By the time the duo tripped the Rideau Carleton teletimer at 1:57.3 they were three lengths in front of JM Vangogh and five up on longshot Heavy Raincoat.
The win was Amigo Hall’s sixth in a 13 race season that has seen him finish out of the top three on just one occasion. Only the second Ontario-sired horse to win the historic Hambletonian, Amigo Hall is trained by Blair Burgess for his father Robert Burgess of Campbellville, wife Karin Olsson Burgess of Milton and the colt’s breeders Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY.
After watching the colt capture his elimination in an effortless 1:57.2 last week, Rideau Carleton fans sent Amigo Hall off as their top choice in the $130,000 contest and earned $3.10 on a win ticket, $3.50 for a place wager and $2.10 on a show bet. Third choice, and the other elimination winner, JM Vangogh returned $2.80 to place and $2.60 to show, while Heavy Raincoat went off as the second longest shot on the board and returned $9.80 with his third-place effort.
An exactor which combined the elimination winners earned fans $7.40 and adding longshot Heavy Raincoat to the triactor ticket boosted the pay out to $169.10.
With their regular season complete the sophomore trotting colts now head to Mohawk Racetrack for the Nov. 8 Super Final, where the top 10 point earners from the 10 Gold Series events will vie for $300,000 and the division title. JM Vangogh leads the talented group into the post season with a total of 399 points from five Elimination and two Gold Final victories, well ahead of second-place Meadowview Sunny who earned 157 points.
The Gold Final also wrapped up Rideau Carleton Raceway’s 2003 Ontario Sires Stakes season, which saw the Gloucester oval host four Gold Series events, two Trilliums and one Grassroots contest. The provincial program looks forward to another exciting season at Rideau Carleton in 2004, when a fresh crop of trotters and pacers will take aim on the track’s record books.