DUNDAS, ON — Flamboro Downs fans will get their first look at the exciting two-year-old pacing colts on Saturday when the precocious youngsters square off in three Gold Series Eliminations.
With division leader Banner Yankee opting out of the third Gold event, his stablemate Lincoln Parke leads the field of 23 colts into the elimination round. The Astreos son heads into Saturday’s contest off an Aug. 10 qualifier and will be looking to bounce back from a pair of unsatisfactory performances in the Battle Of Waterloo.
“He qualified yesterday (Tuesday) and it looks like he came back to where he was,” says co-owner Ted Smith of Milton. “(Breeder) Chris Christoforou, Sr. saw him qualify and told me he looks as good as he ever did.”
Lincoln Parke opened the season with an impressive 1:55 victory in his June 28 Gold Elimination and posted all the fractions in the July 5 Gold Final before fading to eighth in the closing strides. In the second Gold event the colt captured his elimination with a 1:55.2 effort over Georgian Downs five-eighths oval on July 13 and then finished second in the Final, but was placed back to sixth for causing interference while on a break.
“He went a long mile in the Final, first up against Banner Yankee,” recalls Smith, who shares ownership on Lincoln Parke with Toronto resident Karl Ungerman, Arthur Slack of Cumbria, ENG and George Harrison of Lancashire, GB. “And I think (driver) Phil Hudon thought he was going to beat Banner Yankee and gave him one too many taps and he ran sideways and had to be disqualified.”
The colt also made a late break in his July 26 Battle Of Waterloo elimination at Grand River Raceway, but still managed to finish third and advance to the Final. However his luck ran out in the $320,000 Final when he made an early break that knocked him out of contention.
Since then Jamieson has been working on restoring the colt’s health and confidence and Smith hopes the Aug. 10 qualifier indicates the Princeton resident has succeeded. Slack is visiting from England and a win on Saturday would be the perfect way to wrap up his summer holiday.
“They go back Saturday so I’m hoping I can get him to see his horse race and then get him to the airport,” says Smith.
Lincoln Parke will start from Post 5 in the eighth race on Saturday and driver Jody Jamieson will be gunning for a top three finish in order to earn a spot in the Aug. 22 Final, part of Flamboro Downs’ highly anticipated Confederation Cup program. The young reinsman and his father Carl Jamieson will also team up on Caviarandsoftmusic from Post 1 in Race 4.
Flamboro Downs’ first race steps in behind the starting gate at 2:45 pm on Saturday, turning the spotlight on the talented two-year-old pacing colts in Races 4, 6, and 8.