REXDALE, ON — Last Flight Out scored the fastest victory in the elimination round and drew praise from Hall of Fame driver John Campbell, but the three-year-old trotting colt has his work cut out for him in Monday night’s $130,000 Gold Final at Woodbine Racetrack.
“My horse went the fastest mile, the toughest mile, and I ended up with the 10-hole,” says owner-breeder Norman Vartanian, lamenting the fact that the Ontario Sires Stakes program has not followed the lead of other North American stake races which allow the top finishers to select their post positions.
“I think he can do it, but it all depends on what kind of trip I get out of the 10-hole and who is going to go to the front,” adds the Hamilton resident. “He’s a gutsy horse, he will not quit. If he is in striking distance at the top of the stretch you’ve got to watch out because he will do the job, he will show his speed. He’s that type of horse, he does not want to lose.”
The Angus Hall son displayed some of that grit in his 1:55.4 elimination victory last weekend when he powered up around the outside in the final turn and then dug in to hold off Good To Be King through the stretch. Woodbine fans also witnessed the colt’s determination last fall when he captured his Canadian Breeders Championship Elimination and the $125,957 Final by narrow margins.
His only victories in an eight race freshman campaign, the Canadian Breeders battles marked a turning point for Last Flight Out, who made his initial foray into the Ontario Sires Stakes at the Grassroots level.
“At the beginning of last year we got into a little problem and finally (trainer) Susanne Kerwood and I put our heads together and it worked out beautifully,” says Vartanian, who shares ownership on the winner of $107,649 with his wife Isabelle. “I had the same problem with Armbro Monarch at the beginning and she came around pretty good at the end.”
Armbro Monarch went on to earn $670,374 for the Vartanian’s and their eventual partners Al Libfeld of Pickering and Sam Goldband and Marvin Katz of Toronto and in an interesting twist of harness racing fate, the horse that pressured Last Flight Out in the elimination — Good To Be King — is Armbro Monarch’s fifth foal.
“The funny thing was, both horses that finished first and second, I used to own both mothers. So I was happy for both of them,” says Vartanian, who sold his share in Armbro Monarch to Libfeld in 2000.
And while Vartanian believes Good To Be King is a major threat from Post 3 in the final, he would be much happier if the order of finish remained the same this Monday.
“In the horse racing business you’ve got to have a trip and you’ve got to have a little luck,” says the long time owner and breeder. “I hope he does good.”
Among the other horses that will factor into Last Flight Out’s luck on Monday are elimination winners BJs King and Brazen, who will start from Posts 7 and 9 in the sixth race on Woodbine Racetrack’s 7:40 pm program.