LONDON, ON — Out of the shadow of his million dollar winning stablemate Sir Luck, two-year-old pacing colt Boulder Creek rose to the occasion and captured his first $130,000 Gold Final at Western Fair Raceway on Friday evening.
The Pacific Rocket son and driver Phil Hudon eased off the gate into fifth spot and watched from the back of the five-horse field as Au Rumba led the colts to a snappy :27.2 first quarter. With the first turn out of the way Hudon moved Boulder Creek up the outside and had rolled into second spot behind Au Rumba and driver Greg Wright, Jr. by the :58.1 half.
Still on the outside, Boulder Creek hit the three-quarters on top in 1:27 and promptly went off stride, handing the lead to Village Blitz and Jody Jamieson who had been tailing them down the Western Fair backstretch. Through the final turn Hudon wrestled Boulder Creek back onto the pace and as the colts straightened out for home he unleashed a powerful stretch drive that saw the Bill Budd trainee hit the wire one and one-quarter lengths on top in 1:57.
Village Blitz was second while Vandango Hanover was six lengths back in third, fan favourite Stonebridge Premio finished 12 lengths back in fourth and Au Rumba trailed home 13 lengths off the pace in fifth.
The winner returned $4.80 for his first-place effort, $2.70 to place and $2.40 to show. Village Blitz paid $3.90 to place and $2.80 to show and long shot Vandango Hanover’s third-place finish was worth $3.40. The Boulder Creek and Village Blitz combination on an exactor ticket returned $28.10 and adding Vandango Hanover for a triactor play increased your pay out to $230.50 for a two dollar outlay.
C and I Siegel Racing Stable Ltd. of Staten Island, NY own Boulder Creek, who has amassed a resume of three wins, five seconds, three thirds and $352,133 through 14 starts this season, tailing his famous stablemate around the province. Heading into next Saturday’s $300,000 Super Final at Mohawk Racetrack Boulder Creek sits in second spot in the division standings with 215 points to Sir Luck’s 308, giving Budd and Siegel a tremendous amount of horse power in the lucrative season finale.
The top 10 point earners from five regular season Gold Series events are all eligible to the Super Final with the colts like Vandango Hanover, who sit just below the current cut off, being forced to wait until Tuesday to see if any of those above the 55 point barrier fail to enter.
Friday’s event also wrapped up an outstanding season of Ontario Sires Stakes action at Western Fair Raceway, which featured a track record performance by three-year-old pacing colt Daylon Frontier on Oct. 18. The OSS program looks forward to returning to the London half-mile in 2003 when a new crop of two and three-year-old pacers and trotters will be eager to make their mark on the track’s record books.