CAMPBELLVILLE, ON — Friday’s Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack may not have gone as smoothly as driver Jack Moiseyev envisioned, but the end result had The Game Plan’s owners celebrating all the way to the winner’s circle.

Starting from Post 8 Moffat resident Moiseyev eased The Game Plan away from the gate as Good Sound Advice and Il Mago hustled out to the eighth pole in :13.3. Il Mago carried on to a :28.1 quarter and it was then that things went slightly off the rails for Moiseyev and The Game Plan, as the two-year-old trotter skipped off stride while heading up the outside in pursuit of the leaders.

Making his attack from the outside, Ill Be There put some pressure on Il Mago heading to the :57.4 half, but could maintain his composure and made a break, leaving Il Mago alone on the front once again. Near the back of the field, Moiseyev had settled The Game Plan back into his rhythm, but the fan favourites were more than 16 lengths behind the leader.

Il Mago reached the 1:26.3 three-quarters with a one and three-quarter length lead and turned for home all alone, but The Game Plan had caught up to the field and when Heres The Magic went off stride in the stretch and gave the favourite a clear view of the finish line, The Game Plan kicked into high gear. Laying down a :28.3 final quarter, The Game Plan reeled in Il Mago and captured his first Gold Final trophy by one length in a personal best 1:56.3.

After minding his manners and doing all the hard work on the front end, Il Mago had to settled for the runner-up’s share of the $130,000 Gold Final purse. Good Sound Advice sat on Il Mago’s heels throughout the race and picked up the third-place finisher’s share, completing a sweep of the top three by sons of Kadabra. Warrawee Nimby and Summer Indian rounded out the top five.

Milton resident John Kopas trains The Game Plan for his partners LLK stable of Mississauga, Gary Grieve of Union and Anthony Wagner of Mississauga. The partners have cheered the gelding home to four wins, one second and one third in six starts in his young career. In addition to Friday’s Gold Final win, the royally-bred son of Kadabra and former OSS stalwart Image Control captured his Gold Elimination last week at Mohawk and was also an elimination winner at Rideau Carleton Raceway on Aug. 5.

Through the first three Gold Series events on the freshman trotting colt calendar, The Game Plan has accumulated 187 points and currently sits 57 points ahead of Il Mago in the division standings, assuring the half-brother to $1.4 million winner Pure Ivory of a berth in the season ending $300,000 Super Final.

The two-year-old trotting colts will make their fourth Gold Series start at Flamboro Downs on Sept. 23, then wrap things up at Woodbine Racetrack in early October. The top 10 point earners will return to Woodbine on Nov. 12 for the lucrative Super Final.

For complete results please go to: Mohawk Racetrack Results — Aug. 26, 2011