LONDON, ON — Grand Bend Turbo and driver Reg Gassien took full advantage of their post position and the soggy track conditions to capture the first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final of the season on Saturday evening.
The pair fired off the Western Fair Raceway starting gate and had a one and three-quarter length margin on the field of sophomore pacing colts by the time they reached the :27.2 opening quarter. Through fractions of :56.1 and 1:25 his peers were unable to close the gap and when Gassien asked the son of Camluck for another gear in the stretch Grand Bend Turbo pulled away to a two and one-quarter length victory. The win was clocked in 1:54.3 over a sloppy track rated two seconds slower than normal.
Loverboy Hanover sprinted down the stretch to claim second-place honours in the $130,000 contest, while trailer Extreme Three parlayed his trip behind Grand Bend Turbo into a third-place pay off. Fan favourite Banner Yankee travelled a long way around the London oval, sitting two and three-wide for much of the mile, before fading to fourth in the stretch.
The win was the fifth of the season for Grand Bend Turbo, who is owned by trainer Jim Ainsworth of Sarnia, driver Gassien of Lindsay and William Boden of Vancouver. The trio acquired the colt for $33,000 at the 2003 Harrisburg Yearling Sale and turned a profit of almost $45,000 last season through the colt’s three-month freshman campaign.
At two, Grand Bend Turbo captured an elimination of the Gold Series season opener and then hovered just outside the top tier, unable to find his way back to the winner’s circle. After he finished out of the top five in the second last Gold event of the year Ainsworth opted to quit with the talented youngster and turn his attention to the 2005 season.
Grand Bend Turbo returned to the races in late December and was impressive in both the Count B and Snowshoe Pacing Series’ at Woodbine Racetrack, racking up a record of three wins, one second and three thirds in seven starts. Following the Feb. 11 Snowshoe Final the colt enjoyed a second vacation from the racing wars before prepping for the Sires Stakes opener with a pair of winning efforts in qualifying action, the second over a sloppy surface at Western Fair on April 23.
The young pacer captured an overnight event at the London oval on April 29 and then finished third to Extreme Three in his Gold Elimination last weekend, only landing a berth in the $130,000 Final after his name was drawn out of the hat.
London fans sent Grand Bend Turbo off as their fifth choice in the eight horse field and the colt’s winning effort returned $30.60, $28.80 and $8.30. In spite of his elimination victory last week, Loverboy Hanover went off as the longest shot on the board and returned $15.90 to place and $7.30 to show, while third choice Extreme Three’s third-place effort delivered a $5.40 pay out. Fans who played a 1 – 2 exactor banked $655.60 and the 1 – 2 – 8 triactor returned $604.30.
Grand Bend Turbo will now have to wait almost two months for an opportunity to defend his Gold Final title as the three-year-old pacing colts do not return to Ontario Sires Stakes action until July 2. Over the coming weeks Ontario’s talented crop of sophomore pacers will battle the best North America has to offer in the Provincial Cup, May 22 and 29 at Windsor Raceway, and the Burlington Stakes and Pepsi North America Cup at Woodbine Racetrack, June 4, 11 and 18.
Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Western Fair Raceway Saturday, May 28 with the Grassroots season opener for three-year-old pacing fillies.