As part of The Raceway at Western Fair District’s Molson Pace night festivities, the province’s top three-year-old pacing colts and geldings kicked off the 2016 Ontario Sires Stakes season in front of an enthusiastic group of supporters on Friday evening.
Under balmy skies and with fast track conditions the colts rang up sharp miles, culminating with a track record equalling performance by Sintra in the third $70,000 Gold Series division. The Mach Three son was driven to the 1:52.4 victory by Jody Jamieson of Moffat, ON, who said the result came as no surprise to the gelding’s connections.
“All I can tell you is that Dave Menary, tonight, was as confident in a race as I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t worried about Gerries Sport, he wasn’t worried about anybody. He said this horse will win and he’ll set the track record. And he did that,” said Jamieson, who piloted Sintra to the win for trainer Dave Menary of Rockton, ON and his partners Brad Gray of Dundas, ON and Michael Guerriero of Brampton, ON. “He was actually three-fifths of a second off his prediction, but it was still pretty impressive to see how good the horse was.”
Sintra bested fan favourite Gerries Sport by two and one-quarter lengths, with Flaherty seven and a half lengths back in third. The win was Sintra’s third in three starts this season and Jamieson is confident that it will not be his last.
“I schooled him before I qualified him and I knew what kind of horse he was. He was just deadly qualifying and his first two starts were a laugh, 1:51, just jogged,” said the reinsman. “Obviously the half-mile track is a bit of an equalizer for some horses, but he just proved right there that he can go with anybody on any size track.”
Sintra raced just three times as a two-year-old, and was the second lightly raced youngster to emerge victorious in Gold Series action on Friday. Magnum J, who went behind the gate four times last season, captured the first Gold division in 1:53.2.
Magnum J and driver Doug McNair carved out fractions of :27.2, :57.1 and 1:25.4 on their way to the two and one-quarter length win over Brookdale Sonny and Bettor Memories, and McNair is also expecting a strong sophomore campaign from the Big Jim gelding.
“He cut it home in 27 and a bit, and he did that on his own, so it’s scary how big of a mile he probably could have went if he had to,” said Guelph, ON resident McNair.
“He’s fast, he can come off a helmet. It’s tough to say how good he is. He only had four starts last year,” added the driver.
McNair’s father Gregg, also of Guelph, conditions Magnum J and shares ownership of the gelding with Tony Lawrence and William Brown of Hanover.
The other Gold Series trophy went home with Print Media, who upset the favourites with a 1:54.1 front-end effort engineered by Sylvain Filion. The Vintage Master gelding finished one length in front of War N Munn and Semi Automatic to score his first win of the season.
“This year they had him ready a little bit earlier so I think they caught those Gold horses off guard tonight,” noted Filion, last year’s leading driver in the Ontario Sires Stakes program. “He was ready and there were a few here that weren’t quite ready to roll, you know, and I think that gave him an edge.”
Milton, ON resident Filion engineered the win for trainer Richard Moreau of Puslinch, ON and owner Saverino Spagnolo of Ottawa, ON.
The three-year-old pacing colts and geldings will make their second Gold Series start at Mohawk Racetrack on July 2. Ontario Sires Stakes action continues on June 4 with the first Gold Series Leg for the three-year-old pacing fillies going postward at Mohawk Racetrack.
In addition to the Gold Series divisions, London area fans were also treated to four City of London Series Finals and two Alliance Series Finals, all leading up to the $150,000 Molson Invitational Pace. Filion and Moreau combined for a second upset in the Molson Pace, as the lightly rated Evenin Of Pleasure sprinted home to a track record 1:50.3 triumph. Sunfire Blue Chip finished a neck back in second and McWicked was hot on their heels in third.
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