CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Post 9 proved to be no obstacle to Style as the two-year-old pacing filly captured her first Gold Final with a smart 1:53.2 score at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday night.

Driver Tony Kerwood sat the filly in fifth through the early going as Valkyrie Hanover sprinted to a :26.4 opening quarter and a :55.4 half. Heading for the 1:25.3 three-quarters Kerwood tipped Style out behind Stonebridge Prima and began to gain ground on the leaders. As the fillies turned for home Style was just one and a half lengths off the lead, and an impressive finishing kick propelled the filly under the wire half a length up on pocket sitter Stunning Beauty. Valkyrie Hanover stayed game for third.

John Kopas trains Style for breeders Glengate Farms of Campbellville and George Hempt of Camp Hill, PA. The win was the Rustler Hanover daughter’s third straight and shaved almost two seconds off her former personal best.

Style’s winning streak started just 10 days ago when she captured a leg of the Whenuwishuponastar Series at Mohawk with a 1:56.2 effort. Then, in her Gold Elimination last Monday, the filly cruised to a three length victory in 1:55. Through five starts Style now boasts a record of three wins and one third for earnings of $89,443.

Also on the program on Monday night were a pair of Gold Series Eliminations for three-year-old pacing colts, with Noble Jake also overcoming Post 9 to claim the first by a nose decision over Silent Swing.

The Astreos colt and driver Chris Christoforou sat on the outside through the entire mile, as Banner Yankee did most of the work on the front end, taking the field through fractions of :26.4, :55.1 and 1:23.4. Still sitting in sixth, four and a half lengths behind the leader, at the top of the stretch, Christoforou found another gear and Noble Jake sprinted home to the 1:51.2 victory.

Silent Swing also closed hard to claim runner-up honours, with Grand Bend Turbo rounding out the top three. Also advancing to next Monday’s $130,000 Gold Final were fourth and fifth-place finishers Banner Yankee and Extreme Three.

The win was Noble Jake’s fifth of the season and boosted his earnings to $142,940 for trainer Charalambos Christoforou of Campbellville and his partner Banjo Farms of Toronto. The reigning Gold Final champion will resume defence of his title from Post 8 in next week’s showdown.

The other elimination was also decided by a narrow margin as Big Bonus got a neck in front of Lincoln Parke at the wire. Like Noble Jake, Big Bonus sat off the pace, powering up the outside and then sprinting down the stretch to the 1:51.2 victory. Astronomical earned the third-place finisher’s share of the $64,442 purse, while Putnam Romeo and Zooka also earned a berth in next week’s Gold Final.

Mark MacDonald piloted the Bo Knows Jate son to his second win of the season for trainer Jason Libby and owner-breeder William Dorssers of Blenheim and will be back in the race bike from Post 6 in next week’s $130,000 Final.

The complete list of post positions for the Aug. 15 Gold Final is as follows:

Post 1 Astronomical

Post 2 Silent Swing

Post 3 Banner Yankee

Post 4 Extreme Three

Post 5 Putnam Romeo

Post 6 Big Bonus

Post 7 Lincoln Parke

Post 8 Noble Jake

Post 9 Grand Bend Turbo

Post 10 Zooka

AE1 Riverfront Cafe

AE2 Home Run Hudson

AE3 New Riegel Future

For complete results please go to:

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