TORONTO, ON — Looking like he was out for a Sunday afternoon stroll, two-year-old pacing colt Warrawee Needy cruised into the Ontario Sires Stakes record books with an outstanding 1:49.4 performance at Woodbine Racetrack on Monday evening.
Lining up from the outside Post 6 in the abbreviated Gold Final field — all six colts advanced directly to the final without need of an elimination — Jody Jamieson simply let Warrawee Needy pace away from the starting gate. The pair were on top just past the opening eighth, clocked at :13.2 by Machapelo, but were still well out in the centre of the racetrack, floating down onto the rail as they rolled off the first turn and past the :27 quarter.
Warrawee Needy cruised effortlessly along on the front end to the :55.2 half, with Machapelo two lengths back in second and I Found My Beach four and three-quarter lengths back in third. The long-legged fan favourite continued to eat up ground through the 1:23 three-quarters and had left Machapelo in his wake by the 1:36 seven-eighths. I Found My Beach closed like a rocket to get up for second, but the Gold Final title and the two-year-old pacing colt record both belonged to Warrawee Needy.
The 1:49.4 mile demolished the former freshman standard of 1:51 set over the Mohawk Racetrack oval by Keystone Horatio in 2007, and was just four-fifths of a second off the all-time Ontario Sires Stakes mark set by then three-year-old pacing colt Fast Pay at Mohawk in 2009. Warrawee Needy has also etched his name into the provincial record books on half and five-eighths mile tracks. The colt paced to a 1:53.3 OSS record at Flamboro Downs on Aug. 7 and matched Just Asign To Me’s 1:52.1 clocking at Rideau Carleton Raceway on July 18.
Princeton resident Carl Jamieson trains the son of E Dees Cam and Great Memories for Tom Kyron of Toronto, Dr. Michael Wilson of Rockwood, who also bred the colt, and Floyd Marshall of Jarvis. Through 11 starts the gifted young pacer has tallied eight wins, one second and one third for earnings of $385,000, an outstanding return on the $20,000 Jamieson spent to purchase the colt at last fall’s Canadian Yearling Sale.
Undefeated in Gold Elimination action and now in possession of three Gold Final trophies, Warrawee Needy is way out in front of his peers in the Gold Series point standings with 357 — Machapelo sits second with 176 — and will now focus on the $300,000 Super Final at Woodbine on Nov. 12.
Ontario Sires Stakes action continues at Woodbine Racetrack this week as the Toronto oval hosts a pair of Gold Finals on each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to complete the regular season. Post time for all three events is 7:30 pm.
For complete results please go to: Woodbine Racetrack Results — Oct. 10, 2011