SARNIA, ON — Secret’s Nephew made his Gold Series debut a winning one with an impressive wire-to-wire effort in the first $64,442 Gold Elimination at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturday evening.

In rein to trainer Lyle MacArthur, the Camluck colt went directly to the front of the 10 horse field from Post 2 and never faced a challenge, pacing home a one and three-quarter length winner in a personal best 1:51.3. Banner Yankee shadowed Secret’s Nephew throughout the mile and picked up the runner-up share, while Zooka closed well to land in third. Also advancing to the $130,000 Gold Final from the first elimination was fourth-place finisher Loverboy Hanover.

Princeton resident MacArthur trains Secret’s Nephew for his partner Frank Grandinetti of Amherst, NY. The pair bred the colt, whose mother Table For Seven is a full sister to MacArthur’s great race mare Art’s Secret, who earned $795,888 before she died suddenly in 2000. Grand dam Village Secretary earned $157,110 in her own right for the partners before producing four winners of more than $100,000, several of whom have now gone on to successful careers as broodmares.

After making just one start as a two-year-old, Secret’s Nephew emerged onto the racing scene in April and has been virtually flawless, earning five wins, two seconds and one third in nine starts. The only blip in the colt’s record came in the Grassroots season opener at Grand River Raceway where he was involved in a harrowing accident that seriously injured drivers Don McElroy and Dan Clements.

A pair of smart victories in conditioned classes on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit earned Secret’s Nephew the trip to Sarnia and his effortless victory on Saturday should ensure his presence as a wagering favourite in the $130,000 Gold Final in spite of drawing Post 8.

The second elimination saw Astronomical finally claim a Gold Series trophy as his own. A frequent bridesmaid both this year and last, the Astreos son finally seems to have found his groove and heads into the Final on a two-race win streak.

With regular driver Paul MacDonell committed to former OSS star Invitro in the Roses Are Red Final at Mohawk, trainer Dr. Ian Moore returned to the driver’s seat behind Astronomical and steered the colt to a nose victory over Clearwater Cup champ Silent Swing, who carved all the fractions in the 1:52.1 mile. Noble Jake and Isle Of Patmos finished two lengths back in third and fourth and fifth-place finisher Big Bonus was the lucky winner of the draw for the last spot on the gate in next week’s Gold Final.

The win bumped Astronomical’s season earnings to $86,103 and improved his record to four wins and one second in 10 starts for Campbellville resident Moore and his partners William Shearer of Bedford, NS and the R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, NB.

The colt will start from Post 3 in next Saturday’s Gold Final at Hiawatha Horse Park, with the remainder of the nine-horse field starting from the following post positions:

Post 1 Noble Jake

Post 2 Loverboy Hanover

Post 3 Astronomical

Post 4 Silent Swing

Post 5 Big Bonus

Post 6 Isle Of Patmos

Post 7 Banner Yankee

Post 8 Secrets Nephew

Post 9 Zooka

AE1 Freddy The Rustler

AE2 Smileforme

AE3 Putnam Romeo

For complete results please go to:

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/results/data/rsarfsa.html