CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Trainer Jack Darling will start a pair of three-year-old pacing geldings in Gold Elimination action at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday, July 30, and the Cambridge resident is hoping both Twin B Legend and Thats The Life advance on to the Gold Final round.
Both pacers will start from Post 2 in their respective $40,000 Gold Eliminations, with Twin B Legend leading things off in Race 1. The Mach Three gelding heads into his sophomore Gold Series debut off a pair of sharp performances in the Canadian Breeders Championship where he captured his July 16 elimination in a personal best 1:50.3 and was a fast closing second in the July 23 final.
“He was really good last week, he was really flying at the end,” says Darling, adding that all five of the gelding’s sophomore starts have been solid.
“He had bad luck in his first start, he just ran into a wall of horses, but he’s actually raced good every start.”
Darling, who also owns Twin B Legend, made a decision earlier this year to skip the Upper Canada Cup in May and prepare the gelding for a late June debut. Twin B Legend made his first start in a June 21 overnight at Mohawk, finishing tenth from Post 10. The youngster’s second start was in the July 1 Grassroots skirmish at the Campbellville oval, and Twin B Legend sprinted home to a fourth-place finish.
In a second overnight event, on July 8, the winner of $194,013 scored his first sophomore victory with a 1:51.1 mile, then came back the following week to capture his Canadian Breeders Championship elimination. Through his first five starts this season, the trainer says Twin B Legend has demonstrated considerably more mental fortitude than he did as a two-year-old, and as a result Darling has given the gelding’s drivers the go ahead to expand his repertoire of racing tactics.
“Last year we were very careful with him. He was very immature mentally and I was worried if we started leaving with him, he’d go a little crazy,” explains the horseman. “This year he’s much more mature and a couple starts back I told Mike (Saftic) we could start leaving with him.”
Paul MacDonell will steer Twin B Legend in Saturday’s Gold Elimination, and with just six colts in the field, the Guelph resident may not need to use any of the gelding’s early speed. Among the colts also lining up behind the starting gate in Race 1 are Upper Canada Cup winner Mystician at Post 1 and reigning Gold FInal champ Watermelonwine at Post 5.
Unlike his stablemate, who made six appearances in Gold Series action last season and captured an early October Gold Final, Thats The Life will be making his Gold Series debut on Saturday. Like Twin B Legend, Thats The Life started his sophomore campaign in the Grassroots program, where he scored a 1:52 victory and earned a shot at the province’s top tier.
“He’s just a really nice horse,” says Darling of the Life Sign gelding. “I think he’ll be very competitive in there if he gets a decent trip.”
Although Darling rarely trains horses he does not own himself, when longtime friend Terry Tomlin of Fowlerville, MI called to ask if he would make room for Thats The Life, Darling agreed. The homebred gelding, owned by Mitchell Walker of Davison, MI, moved into his barn in early June and has since scored two wins and two thirds in five outings.
“He’s a very athletic horse on the track,” notes the trainer. “He’s the kind you like to have around.”
Thats The Life also competed in the Canadian Breeders Championship, finishing third behind Mach Of Ballykeel in his elimination and ninth in the final. The gelding faces a field of Gold Series regulars in Race 3, including last year’s Super Final champion Prodigal Seelster, who gets the outside Post 6.
With only 12 colts competing, the top five finishers from each Gold Elimination will return to Mohawk Racetrack on Aug. 6 for the second $130,000 Gold Final on their schedule. Saturday’s Gold Eliminations are slated as Races 1 and 3 on Mohawk Racetrack’s 7:10 pm program.
To view Twin B Legend’s previous OSS starts please click: Twin B Legend
To view Thats The Life’s previous OSS starts please click: Thats The Life
For complete entries please click: Mohawk Racetrack Entries — July 30, 2011