ELORA, ON— It has been almost three months since Primary Purpose laid eyes on the inside half of a starting gate, and on Tuesday night at Grand River Raceway the three-year-old pacing colt demonstrated that practice can indeed make perfect in the art of starting from an outside post.

With Post 6 in the first of two six-horse Gold Eliminations, Primary Purpose and driver Mark MacDonald laid the hammer down early, rocking away from the gate to a :27.1 opening quarter. The pair maintained control of the front end through a :56 half and 1:25.1 three quarters, then laid down a :27.3 second final quarter to record the victory.

Cruising under the wire one and three-quarter lengths ahead of pocket sitter Thepaninsulahotel, Primary Purpose halted the Grand River teletimer at 1:52.4, a new sophomore pacing colt track record.

Its A Good Thing and Barn Art also advanced to next week’s Gold Final from the first elimination, finishing four and a half and six and three-quarter lengths behind the winner in third and fourth.

Cambridge resident Casie Coleman trains Primary Purpose for breeder Rod Therres of Surrey, BC and his partner Charles MacFarlane of Victoria, BC. Undefeated as a two-year-old on the Pacific Coast, the Cammibest son boasts a sophomore record of six wins, four seconds and one third in 16 starts.

In seven Ontario Sires Stakes starts the gelding is undefeated in Gold Elimination action, but has yet to claim victory in a $130,000 Gold Final, and he will be hampered in next Tuesday’s attempt by the outside Post 8. The last time Primary Purpose saw an inside post was a May 16 elimination for the Upper Canada Cup at Georgian Downs. Since then he has not drawn closer to the rail than Post 5 and has landed Posts 7, 8 and 9 in four stakes finals.

Unlike Primary Purpose, OK Boromir has been a fixture on the inner half of the starting gate this season, and the No Pan Intended son racked up his fifth victory from Post 4 in the second elimination.

With regular reinsman Luc Ouellette in the race bike, OK Boromir floated away from the starting gate and was sitting last through much of the mile. Rescue Plan and Lyons Horace divvied up front end honours, posting fractions of :27, :56.1, and 1:25.2 before OK Boromir kicked into high gear in the stretch and paced away to a half length victory in 1:54.1.

Two-time Gold Final winner Fast Pay finished second, with Power Off and Lyons Horace battling hard to claim the third and fourth spots.

Frank Baker, Jr. of Thamesford trains OK Boromir for his partners Wray and Janet Wilson of Thorndale. A winner in the second Gold Final of the season, OK Boromir will take aim on a second title from Post 2 next Tuesday.

The complete line up for the Tuesday, Sept. 1 Gold Final is as follows:

Post 1 Barn Art

Post 2 OK Boromir

Post 3 Its a Good Thing

Post 4 Fast Pay

Post 5 Power Off

Post 6 Thepaninsulahotel

Post 7 Lyons Horace

Post 8 Primary Purpose

For complete results please go to: http://standardbredcanada.ca/racing/results/data/r0825grvrn.dat.