DUNDAS, ON — Reach Higher earned his second Gold Elimination trophy with a 2:00.1 victory at Flamboro Downs on Sunday evening.
The two-year-old trotting colt and driver Steve Condren cruised along behind pacesetter Protege Seelster through fractions of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:30.1, then stepped out in the stretch and accelerated away to a two length victory. Protege Seelster settled for second, with Kenny B four more lengths back in third. Only the top two finishers advanced to next Sunday’s $130,000 Gold Final.
The Striking Sahbra son captured his first Gold Elimination in the July 16 season opener at Mohawk Racetrack, but then drew Post 10 for the final and had to settle for fifth. In addition to his Gold Series starts, Reach Higher also posted a runner-up finish to Ja El Express in the July 4 Bud Light Stake at Flamboro.
Milton resident John Kopas trains Reach Higher for KR Stable of Milton, LLK Stable of Mississauga, Douglas Millard of Woodstock, and the Estate of George F. Hempt Trust of Camp Hill, PA. The partners offered up $140,000 for the colt at last fall’s Forest City Yearling Sale based on Kopas’s success with half-sister Raising Rachel, who has earned $606,703 in her career and finished second by a nose in the prestigious Hambletonian Oaks on Saturday.
Kopas will also harness a starter in the two-year-old pacing colt Gold Final that will go postward as part of the Confederation Cup under card next weekend. One race before Reach Higher’s victory, Keystone Raptor recovered from an early break to finish third behind Future Million and Royal Artist. The top three colts from each pacing colt Gold Elimination advanced to the Aug. 16 Gold Final.
The 1:55 victory was a personal best for Future Million and the fastest of the three pacing colt eliminations. Simon Allard engineered the victory for trainer Donald Lowes and his partner Kerry Lowes, both of Princeton. Through six starts the Million Dollar Cam son now has two wins and three seconds to his credit.
Two other trainers will also harness one colt in each Gold Final next weekend. Windsor resident Bob McIntosh will start Text Me in the trotting colt contest and Mcmaverick in the pacing colt battle, while Gregg McNair of Guelph will send out Rodeo in the trotting colt final and Stonebridge Tonic in the pacing colt event.
Stonebridge Tonic finished second to Wellthereyougo in Sunday’s first race, reprising their finish in the Battle of Waterloo final at Grand River Raceway on Aug. 3. Wellthereyougo stopped the Flamboro teletimer at 1:55.1 to record his third straight victory for trainer Dr. Ian Moore of Charlottetown, PEI, R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, NB and Serge Savard of Saint-Bruno, QC. Milton resident Randy Waples engineered the victory.
Third-place finisher Toughest Of All also advanced to the $130,000 Gold Final. Both the two-year-old pacing colt and trotting colt Gold Final will be part of Flamboro Downs’ signature Confederation Cup program next Sunday, Aug. 16, which gets under way at 1:30 pm.
For complete results please go to: http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/racing/results/data/r0809flmdn.dat.