CAMPBELLVILLE, NOV. 11, 2001 — John Bax raced four horses in three Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday night and went home with three wins and one second.
The Peterborough horseman opened the $2 million Gold Series Championship with a one-two finish in the two-year-old trotting filly event when Natashas Kiss held off stablemate Pepi Lavec to score the 1:59.4 win. Bax trains Natashas Kiss for Al Libfeld of Pickering and Sam Goldband and Marvin Katz of Toronto and shares ownership on Pepi Lavec with Glengate Farms of Campbellville.
“The order was a surprise. I own part of one so I was kind of hoping it would be the other one,” joked Bax after the race. “If you had asked me five minutes before the race which one was the better horse I would have said, “Pepi.” But it’s nice the other one got to jump up too.”
Bax clearly did not communicate his thoughts to driver Chris Christoforou who put Natashas Kiss on the front end just past the :27.4 first quarter. Once she gained command of the race the Balanced Image lass rolled through fractions of :57.2 and 1:28.3 en route to the three and one-half length, which shaved more than three seconds off her personal best.
“I would have liked to see her sit in the hole a little longer, but Chris knows what he is doing. He said she felt really strong and he was confident the whole mile,” said owner Marvin Katz. “It’s been an outstanding training job by John. He did a great job just keeping her on her game and giving her rests in between, just waiting for an opportunity where she could really show her top end ability.”
Smoky Sunset rounded out the top three in the freshman trotting filly division, which saw heavy favourite Corinas Mission go off stride at the start.
One race later Bax, Libfeld, Katz and Goldband were back in the winner’s circle when Duke Of York captured the two-year-old trotting colt Super Final.
In rein to regular driver Paul MacDonell the Breeder’s Crown champion surprised his connections by reaching the front just past the quarter mile marker and cruising around the Mohawk oval to the 1:59.2 victory over Whitesand Titan and Lockkeeper.
“I was surprised that he went to the front but it’s a real stiff wind so the horses haven’t been getting home that well,” said Bax, who was also concerned that the three-week gap since his last race might affect the Balanced Image colt.
“I was worried he was too fat. He was blowing pretty good when I warmed him up so I was a little worried that he wasn’t in too good a shape,” added the veteran conditioner.
The win added $125,000 to Duke Of York’s $546,1423 bank balance and may be the last time Ontario fans see the talented trotter before the start of his sophomore season. While a final decision has yet to be made, Bax thinks they may opt out of the Canadian Breeders Championship and rest on their laurels until 2002.
However, fans will see Bax in the Canadian Breeders event with his third Super Final winner Northern Bailey. The Balanced Image son took full advantage of the absence of Breeders Crown champion Liberty Balance to score his second straight victory in what has been an erratic and frustrating season for Bax and his partners Brian Parkinson of Sharon and William White of Peterborough.
“He’s been very inconsistent, you know, little problems and bad luck. He finished second in the elimination down in Sarnia one night in 1:56 and then he come back and made a break. It’s been that kind of year for him,” said Bax, adding that driver Dave Wall has been central to the colt’s recent success.
“Dave’s done a hell of a job with him. He’s babied him when he needed to be babied, and raced him when he was able to race. If you remember, there was a horse called Goodtimes that we did kind of the same trick with when he was a three-year-old.”
Veteran trotter Goodtimes also made the trip to Mohawk on Saturday, spending his evening in the Fuji Film booth inside the grandstand. The $2 million winner happily posed with more than 300 fans eager to make his acquaintance.
Donven Promise kept sire Balanced Image from sweeping the trotting divisions with an impressive 1:56.4 victory in the three-year-old trotting filly contest. The Promising Catch daughter and trainer-driver Tom Strauss tailed division leader Yankee Fribble into the final turn and then fired off to score the two and one half length win.
“I didn’t really plan on moving that soon but Gypsy Balance kind of come to my wheel so I said if I’m going to move I’d better do it now and when I moved her she was strong,” said Strauss, in an emotional winner’s circle interview. The filly’s breeder Don Venasse of North Bay passed away just before she captured her first Ontario Sires Stakes event in August and his wife Arena was in the winner’s circle for the first time since his death.
In the pacing events two-year-old filly Precious Delight extended her win streak to 10 with a 1:54.1 score for owner Peter Heffering of Port Perry and trainer Duane Marfisi while favourite Pacific Titan could not hold off a late rush from early season star Camystic in the freshman colt event. Camystic and driver Sylvain Filion caught the pacesetter at the wire to eke out the 1:54.4 victory for Millar Farms of Newmarket..
Fernbank Fiona scored an upset in the three-year-old pacing filly division when she exploded out of the pocket and sprinted by pacesetter Run Around Jate to score a five length 1:55.4 victory. John Fleischman of Stittsville bred and owns the Camluck miss. As expected the three-year-old pacing colts delivered an impressive finish with Youmustbekidding prevailing for the 1:53.4 victory on behalf of Black Horse Racing of Lebanon, NJ.
The $2 million Super Final Championships wrapped up the 2001 Ontario Sires Stakes season, which once again showcased some of North America’s finest two and three-year-old Standardbreds. The program will return to Mohawk Racetrack next spring with a fresh crop of youngsters eager to prove their mettle on the provincial and world stage.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SNYDER AT 519-656-2017 (TEL./FAX) OR smsnyder@sentex.net.