REXDALE, ON — In spite of the rain, which caused Woodbine Racetrack officials to rate the track sloppy and one second slower than normal, the two-year-old pacing colts put on an impressive speed show on Thursday evening.

In the first of three Gold Series Eliminations Sauble Jackson and driver Stephen Byron rolled to a four and one quarter length victory in 1:55. The win was the second this season for the Northern Luck colt, who also captured a Gold Elimination at Rideau Carleton Raceway on June 26 before failing to crack the top five in the July 3 Gold Final.

“It was pretty much just the trip (on July 3). We ended up being third or fourth over and Chris’ (Christoforou) horse ended up making a break and it scattered us a little bit,” recalled Byron. “He sat too far back to overcome, but he was pretty good tonight. He was pretty handy there. I wasn’t pushing him much.”

Byron handles the colt for trainer Duane Marfisi of Guelph and owner-breeders Sauble Hill Farms of Tara. The win pushed the young pacer’s earnings to $41,678 in just three starts.

Cozy Xample earned his way into next Thursday’s Gold Final with a runner-up performance in the first Gold Elimination, while Daylon Boy, owned by trainer Mario Macri of Oakville, Eric Udrzal of Mississauga and Carmine Cesta of Toronto, maintained a perfect record of third-place finishes in Gold Series action. The colt was third in his elimination and third in the $130,000 Gold Final at Rideau Carleton.

Randy Waples and Bill Robinson teamed up to capture the last two Gold Eliminations with Apache Limo and Putasmileon. In the sixth race Apache Limo lived up to his name with a come-from-behind effort that saw him three-wide at the three-quarter pole and one and a quarter lengths on top at the 1:55.4.

Pacesetter and fan favourite Caras Allamerican, co-owned by Karl Ungerman of Toronto, settled for second and Indianwood landed in third.

“He’s a good-steering colt, I wouldn’t have been able to swing him three wide if he was too bad on it. He did well,” said Waples from the winner’s enclosure. “The proof is in the pudding, he seems to know how to get to the wire.”

CMR Farms of Hagersville own the Apaches Fame son, who was a $13,500 purchase at the Canadian Classic Yearling Sale last fall.

In the final elimination Waples opted for a front end trip with Putasmileon, who matched his stablemate’s effort with a 1:55.4 victory over another Robinson trainee, Dreamfair Legend, and Dangerous Fame.

After rolling through steady fractions of :28.1, :59.1 and 1:28.4, Putasmileon turned in an impressive :27 last quarter to score the victory, but Waples felt the July 1 Grassroots winner was well within himself.

“Any horse, you are going to have to push him a little bit to get him there,” said Waples. “With going that speed you have to get after him a little bit, but I would say he was well in hand.”

A son of Grinfromeartoear, Putsamileon was a $40,000 US purchase at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale for owner Fred Monteleone Stable LLC of Pompano Beach, FL.

The top three colts from each elimination plus one of the fourth-place finishers, Whitesand Lord, Armbro Brando and Kicks N Grins, will return to Woodbine Racetrack next Thursday, July 17 for their second $130,000 Gold Final.