LONDON, ON — At the end of Saturday night’s Gold Final at Western Fair Raceway Trevor Ritchie had a smile on his face. The colts he qualified for the $130,000 contest had once again turned in impressive performances to finish first and second.
However, Ritchie’s smile was accompanied by a rueful shake of the head as he watched driver Greg Wright, Jr. have his picture taken in the winner’s circle with Ryan Hall, the colt he opted not to drive.
Ironically, Semper Fi Hall, the colt Ritchie choose because of his superior ability on the half-mile track, made a break heading by the quarter pole and lost more than six lengths to the leaders. In a mile reminiscent of last year’s Grassroots Championship, the Balanced Image son recovered quickly and clawed his way back into the action but could not catch up with his stablemate.
Ryan Hall and Greg Wright, Jr. landed on the rail behind pacesetter Creigmeister and simply waited patiently while that colt at Whitesand Titan battled it out on the front end. Heading down the stretch Wright sent Ryan Hall after the lead and the colt responded with a surge of speed that propelled him to a two and one half length 2:01.3 victory.
Semper Fi Hall closed hard for second and Carrland Buddy was also able to overtake Creigmeister to take home the third-place finisher’s share.
Doug McIntosh of Wheatley trains both Ryan Hall and Semper Fi Hall for Walnut Hall Limited of Lexington, KY and the veteran trainer was not surprised to see what had been his number two colt reach the wire first.
It was Ryan Hall’s second straight win of the year and his fourth lifetime. The victory doubled the gelding’s earnings, pushing them to $130,012. The win also gives Ryan Hall the early lead in the Super Final point standing with a perfect 100 points to his stablemate’s 75.
The three-year-old trotting colts make their next Gold Series stop at Woodbine Racetrack on June 3, giving Ritchie a second opportunity to qualify both colts and make a different choice when the $130,000 is on the line.
Ontario Sires Stakes action returns to Western Fair Raceway on Friday, May 31 when the three-year-old trotting fillies roll into town for their first Trillium Series contest.