REXDALE, ON — With most of the favourites failing to advance out of last week’s elimination round, Saturday’s three-year-old trotting colt Gold Final at Woodbine Racetrack is a wide open affair.

Mr Lemon finished second by three-quarters of a length in the fastest of last week’s elimination rounds, and driver Jody Jamieson is hoping an improved post position will allow the Mr Lavec son to improve his finish in the $130,000 final.

“We drew the seven-hole,” explains Jamieson. “He’s the kind of horse that doesn’t like a lot of starts and stops so that should work to our advantage. From the seven-hole he can come out of the turn with some momentum.”

Last week Mr Lemon started from Post 2 and sat in mid-pack, tight on the heels of eventual winner B Cor Rennegade, throughout the 1:55.4 mile. B Cor Rennegade and Jack Moiseyev return to Post 8 for Saturday’s final, but Jamieson speculates that the race will look quite different for both his colt and Moiseyev’s.

“Those two horses from the States don’t look like they have a lot of gate speed,” says Jamieson about the other two elimination winners, Breaking Benjamin and A Gentleman, who will start from Posts 1 and 4. “So I think they’ll be looking for me and Jack (Moiseyev) off the gate, as opposed to us looking for them. We’ll just have to try and outlast them.”

Breaking Benjamin and A Gentleman both employed come from behind tactics to score upset victories in the elimination round, and neither has demonstrated a great deal of gate speed through their early season starts.

“I’d like to get away close and not have to move him much in the race,” says the Dundas resident. “But I train him on the front, so he’s no stranger to the front.

“And it is three-year-old trotting colts, so I’ll look across at the start and if there are a couple off stride I’ll probably push him harder.”

Jamieson shares ownership on the winner of $88,674 — through his numbered company 1140545 Ontario Ltd. — with Thomas Kyron of Etobicoke, William Jones of Lexington, KY and Benjamin Taylor of Nicholasville, KY. As a two-year-old Mr Lemon appeared in three Gold Series events, with his best results coming over the half-mile oval at Grand River Raceway last August where he finished second in his elimination and in the Final.

�He’s always been an honest horse,” notes Jamieson. “Maybe a little short on talent now and then, but hopefully he’s come back good.”

Through five starts this season the gelding has recorded two wins and one second. He clocked a personal best 1:56.4 at Woodbine Racetrack on April 13 and would love to boost his statistics with a strong finish on Saturday.

The three-year-old trotting colts go head-to-head in the sixth race on Saturday’s program, which also features three divisions of the Burlington Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts. Woodbine Racetrack’s first race rolls in behind the starting gate at 7:40 pm.

For complete entries please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/entries/data/ewdbssa.html#N6