CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — He may have been mud splattered, but nothing could hide the smile on Terry Kerr’s face as he returned to the Mohawk Racetrack winner’s circle after capturing Monday night’s $130,000 Gold Final with three-year-old trotting filly Porsche Hall.

Kerr and the lightly rated Porsche Hall stormed their way down the Mohawk stretch to rip the victory out of heavy favourite Pure Ivory’s hands and score their first win on the sophomore Gold Series trail.

“She’s been a really good mare, she won the Grassroots Championship last year, but this year she’s had bad post positions and Pure Ivory’s been almost unbeatable,” said Kerr from the winner’s circle. “She won a couple weeks back and that seemed to pick her up.

“Last week we were scared she was a little sick, but she came out of it good,” added the Sarnia resident. “We made a bridle change tonight (open to Swedish blinds), and everything worked out.”

Leaving from Post 6, Kerr put Porsche Hall’s early speed to good use and took the field to a :27.2 opening quarter. Trevor Ritchie and Meadowview Tiffy were the first to challenge up the outside and landed in front just past the quarter. Next up in the high stakes game of tag were Paul MacDonell and Oaklea Odessa, who hit the halfway marker in :56.4.

MacDonell and Oaklea Odessa were still on top as the fillies reached the 1:26.3 three-quarters but Steve Condren had shifted Pure Ivory into gear after hovering on the outside through most of the mile. The reigning Gold Final champ had a length and three-quarters on the field as they turned for home and seemed poised for her third straight victory, but the outside trip and the heavy track took their toll and left an opening for Porsche Hall.

After being shuffled back to fourth during the front end relay, Porsche Hall and Kerr caught a break when Corries Glory left room for them to slip out around the last turn and get into position for the stretch duel. An impressive :28.4 finishing kick propelled Porsche Hall down the stretch to the one and one-quarter length victory in a personal best 1:56.

“She’s always had great gate speed,” noted Kerr, who trains the filly for breeders Bet Max Stables Inc. of Casco, MI and Benenati Inc. of Clinton Township, MI.

“We left out of there and, I thought it was Paul MacDonell coming, but it was Trevor (Ritchie),” he continued. “Then Pure Ivory came first up and we were kind of locked in, but Jack Moiseyev couldn’t keep up and we got out and got a clean shot, and she did the rest.”

The win was Porsche Hall’s second this season, her first coming in the Canadian Breeders consolation at Mohawk on July 28. In spite of remarkably bad luck in the post position draws, she has had three outside posts and one trailer in five OSS starts, the filly has finished second twice in Gold Elimination action and was third in the June 30 Gold Final at Western Fair. She qualified for Monday’s Gold Final with a fourth-place finish behind Pure Ivory in last week’s Gold Elimination.

Pure Ivory, owned by driver Steve Condren from Milton, breeder Harry Rutherford of Mount Pleasant, Christina Maxwell of Cambridge and Jerry Vanboekel of Bright, settled for second and Birminghim closed like a rocket from seventh to claim the third-place finisher’s share.

Porsche Hall will defend her hard fought title on Thursday, Aug. 24 as the three-year-old trotting fillies make their way to Rideau Carleton Raceway for the fourth Gold Series event on their schedule.

Next up at Mohawk Racetrack are the two-year-old trotting fillies, who will battle over the Campbellville oval in their fourth Gold Series event on Sunday, Aug. 20.

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rmohsmo.html#N5