REXDALE, ON — Freshman pacing colt Sir Luck retained his golden crown for another week with a seemingly effortless victory at Woodbine Racetrack on Thursday night.
The Camluck colt and driver Mike Saftic fired out from behind the starting gate into fourth as Armbro Anthony and Gotta Feeling led the field of two-year-old pacing colts to a :26.3 first quarter. Once Gotta Feeling had cleared to the front Sir Luck kept right on sailing, taking control of the race before the :55.3 half and carrying on to a 1:24.3 three-quarters and a one and a half length victory in 1:52.
“He was well in hand last week so I felt good about him coming into tonight. He did everything I asked of him,” said Saftic in the winner’s circle after the race. “He went a big trip in Windsor, 1:53 flat, and that was just as good a mile as tonight.”
Saftic drives Sir Luck for trainer Bill Budd of Carlisle and owners C and I Racing Stable Ltd. of Brooklyn, NY. The win was the colt’s third straight and his second Gold Final victory, pushing his earnings to an impressive $158,764 in just four starts.
Gotta Feeling fought off the challengers for second and Boulder Creek, also owned by C and I Racing Stable and trained by Bill Budd, closed well to pick up the third-place finisher’s share of the $130,000 purse.
“This is going to be one tough division,” noted Saftic. “Mario’s (Baillargeon) colt (Gotta Feeling) is a good colt, that was only his second lifetime start and Billy’s (Budd) other colt (Boulder Creek) is going to be a player too.”
The Gold level colts now enjoy almost a one month break from Ontario Sires Stakes action, giving them an opportunity to compete in other two-year-old stakes like the $700,000 Woodrow Wilson at the Meadowlands and the $200,000 Battle of Waterloo at Elmira Raceway. They will match wits in their third Gold Series event at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 11 and 18 before a second break to accommodate the coveted $1.25 million Metro Stakes at Woodbine.
“He’s Metro eligible so I’m looking forward to driving him in that,” admitted Saftic after Thursday’s victory. “He looks like he’ll be competitive.”
The other two-year-old highlight on Thursday’s program was the $30,000 Gold Series Consolation in Race 2 which saw Paul MacDonell and Close The Bank secure the victory with a solid 1:54 performance.
Starting from Post 3 in the eight horse field the duo opted to sit and watch as Worthy Apache and Everton battled it out through opening fractions of :26.3 and :56.4. Heading to the 1:25.3 three-quarters MacDonell sent Close The Bank after the lead and the Run The table colt sailed home to a half length win over Vandango Hanover. Third-place finisher Ask Again was another four lengths back.
Peter Heffering of Port Perry, Arthur Slack of Cumbria, England, David Reid of Kingston and Stan Klemencic of Trenton share ownership on Close The Bank, who was sent off as a favourite along with his entrymate Artistic Bunny. Mark Steacy trains the duo, who sported identical records of one win and one fourth in two starts heading into the Consolation.
Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at Woodbine Racetrack on Monday night with the impressive three-year-old trotting fillies in their second Gold Final and Consolation.