SARNIA — Making their Ontario Sires Stakes debut at Hiawatha Horse Park on Thursday evening, the three-year-old pacing colts made it clear that the competition would be fast and furious for the Gold Series crown this season.
The colts roared out of the starting gate in Race 3 with Sir Luck, the heavy favourite along with entrymate Boulder Creek, stealing the lead from Canadian Outlaw just past the :27 opening quarter and then taking the field through a steady :56 half and 1:24.4 three-quarters. Heading down the stretch Sir Luck had disposed of a challenge from Sly Deputy and looked poised to collect his first win of the season, but the colts behind him had other ideas.
Mt Vernon Hanover, Killer Rabbit, Keepen Lucky and Canadian Outlaw all fired their engines and the five colts duelled down the stretch to an outstanding finish that saw less that one length separate the top five. When the dust settled Mt Vernon Hanover had eked out a quarter length victory in 1:54.3 over Killer Rabbit, leaving Sir Luck to settle for the third-place finisher’s share of the $64,062 Gold Elimination purse.
One of three horses from the Bill Robinson stable in the race, Mt Vernon Hanover is owned by Deena Rachel Frost of Delray Beach, FL, Gerald Smiley of Cote-Saint-Luc, QC, Norman Smiley of Boca Raton, FL and Sampson Street Stables of Old Forge, PA. Ontario Sires Stakes regular Greg Wright, Jr. piloted the Rustler Hanover son to the come-from-behind victory.
Sarnia fans were so convinced of the superiority of Sir Luck and Boulder Creek that fourth choice Mt Vernon Hanover returned a whopping $41.30 to win, $14.30 to place and $5.40 to show. Killer Rabbit, the second-longest shot on the board, paid $45.50 to place and $11.10 to show and Sir Luck returned just $2.10 to show. The exactor was worth a hearty $2,656.90 and the there were no 4 – 7 – 1 triactor tickets sold, so the triactor paid out $2,336.10 on the combination of Mt Vernon Hanover, Killer Rabbit and any other horse in the field.
Another Robinson trainee, Keepen Lucky, finished fourth to advance to the May 29 Gold Final, while fifth-place finisher Canadian Outlaw will have to await the results of a draw to see if he lands the final spot on the rail in the $130,000 showdown.
Learning from their experience in the first elimination, Sarnia fans sent Robinson trainees off as their first, third, fourth and fifth choices in Race 10 and were not disappointed as stablemates from the powerful Hagersville operation swept into the top two spots.
Twin B Dynamic was nominated as the most likely to earn OSS honours, but it was his stablemate HBFS Storm who took control of the race heading for the half and never looked back, flying home to a four length victory in 1:52.3. Twin B Dynamic survived a tour around the outside of the five-eighths mile oval to finish second, while Whitesand Dancer closed hard to nail down the third spot. Hillarys Fame advanced to the May 29 Gold Final from fourth and Village Blitz will toss his hat into the draw with Canadian Outlaw to determine the ninth starter in the Final.
HBF Corporation of Farmington Hills, MI bred and own Native Born son HBFS Storm, who has five wins, two seconds and one third to his credit from 10 starts this season.
The top four finishers from each elimination and one fifth-place finisher drawn by lot will return to Hiawatha Horse Park next Thursday, May 29 for the first of five $130,000 Gold Finals on their 2003 schedule.