CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — While the pacesetters in Friday night’s $130,000 Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack battled hard through crisp early fractions, Chris Christoforou and King La Conch were biding their time in sixth.

The pair sat sixth through the :27.3 opening quarter, sixth at the :56 half and sixth as the leaders swept by the three-quarter pole in 1:26.2. They waited until the final turn to make their move, sliding out into the flow behind Last Flight Out, and by the top of the stretch were positioned in second.

Finally, as the three-year-old trotting colts straightened out for the drive to the wire, Christoforou shifted King La Conch into gear and the colt cruised down the stretch to an effortless one length victory in 1:56.3.

The come from behind strategy worked for King La Conch in the elimination round and, clearly, Christoforou and trainer Joe Stutzman were not going to mess with success after struggling for weeks to get the unpredictable youngster to complete a race without making a break. Friday’s victory was the King Conch son’s third this season and marked the first time the trotter has ever been able to string together two flawless races.

Stutzman trains King La Conch for owner-breeder Robert Key of Leechburg, PA. The win boosted the colt’s lifetime earnings just over the $100,000 mark. Last Flight Out, owned by breeders Norman and Isabelle Vartanian, stayed game for second and Brancaleone rounded out the top three.

Sent off as the fan favourite in spite of his statistics, King La Conch returned $5.90, $4.30 and $3.90 to his backers. Last Flight Out’s runner-up performance was worth $4.70 to place and $3.20 to show and Brancaleone returned $3.90 on a show ticket. The 3 – 2 exactor delivered a $20.30 pay out, moving up to the triactor earned fans $77.50 and adding fourth-place finisher Stonebridge Diablo into the mix for a superfecta play landed you $104.90.

Ontario’s talented three-year-old trotting colts make their third Gold Series start at Ottawa’s Rideau Carleton Raceway on July 10, and Sires Stakes action returns to Mohawk Racetrack this Tuesday with the Gold Series debut of the two-year-old trotting fillies.

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rmohsfr.html