OTTAWA, ON — Athenas Legacy and Monkey On My Wheel captured the Gold Elimination trophies up for grabs at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday evening, delivering matching front-end performances.
Athenas Legacy kicked off the Gold Series event, competing in an elimination with just two other sophomore pacing fillies when Camille and Patsys Luck were scratched out of the race. Starting from Post 3 for driver Sylvain Filion, Athenas Legacy went straight to the front and rolled through fractions of :27.3, :57.2 and 1:25.3. Fan favourite Look Cheap rallied out of the pocket in the stretch but Athenas Legacy had enough left in the tank to claim a quarter length victory in 1:53.2. The other contestant in the race, Waasmula, finished third.
Clinton resident George McClure conditions Athenas Legacy for Carman Hastie of Elmwood, Catherine and Dustin McClure of Clinton and Stephen Brownell of Holland Centre. Brownell and the McClure’s also bred the daughter of Million Dollar Cam and Stonebridge Athena.
Through nine starts this season Athenas Legacy has tallied four wins, one second and one third for earnings of $69,410. Sunday’s victory was the filly’s first in Gold Series action, and her second in the Ontario Sires Stakes program this season; she started her sophomore campaign with a win in the Grassroots season opener at Mohawk Racetrack on May 23.
Randy Waples employed a similar strategy in the second $40,000 Gold Elimination with Monkey On My Wheel. Starting from Post 4, the veteran reinsman allowed the hard leaving Village Janus to clock a :26.2 opening quarter, but took command of the pace before the :55.2. Sailing on to a 1:23.1 three-quarters, Monkey On My Wheel outdistanced her peers in the stretch, reaching the wire five and one-quarter lengths ahead in 1:51.4.
Last year’s division champion Modern Connection paced up the outside into second, with Imagine Semalu rounding out the top three. Both fourth-place finisher Village Janus and fifth-place finisher Machs Delicacy will also advance to next weekend’s $130,000 Gold Final.
Travis Umphrey of Guelph trains Monkey On My Wheel and shares ownership of the filly with breeder Mac Nichol of Burlington. Through nine sophomore starts the daughter of Mach Three and Legislation boasts three wins, three seconds and one third for earnings of $173,725. Sunday’s victory marked Monkey On My Wheel’s third straight appearance in the winner’s circle, having swept her elimination and the final of the Canadian Breeders Championship at Mohawk Racetrack in recent weeks.
The eight finalists will return to Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday, Aug. 7 for the third Gold Final of their three-year-old campaign.
For complete results please go to: Rideau Carleton Raceway Results — July 31, 2011