Freshmen Face Off In Champlain Stakes
A trio of $103,673 Champlain Stakes for two-year-old trotting
colts took place Friday at Mohawk Racetrack with Paster Stephen,
Big Rigs and Blue Porsche capturing their respective divisions.
Many of the colts who participated in tonight's event will be
back at Mohawk Racetrack next Saturday night in the William
Wellwood Memorial Trot eliminations.

Big Rigs captured the first division for Hall of Fame driver
John Campbell. Sent off as the 3-1 second choice, Campbell and
Big Rigs left alertly from Post 6 and followed heavy favourite
Leader Of The Gang and driver Ron Pierce to the opening panel of
:28.4.
Driver Paul MacDonell and Unabating also left alertly and
challenged Leader Of The Gang for the lead going towards the
half but could not clear and was left on the outside.
Pierce and Leader of The Gang took his rivals past the half
in :58.2 and three quarters in 1:27.4.
As the field marched for home, driver John Campbell
capitalized on a perfect trip and was able to upset Leader Of
The Gang in the final strides in 1:56.4 with Sim Brown and
driver Randy Waples completing the triactor.
Big Rigs paid $8.40 to win. Kelly O'Donnell trains the son of
Andover Hall and Filly At Bigs, who were both Champlain Stakes
division winners. Big Rigs is now two-for-three in his career
with earnings totaling $70,086 for owners Millers Stable of
Leburn, Kentucky, Ed Mullinax and DM Stables of Amherst, Ohio.

In the second split,
Pastor Stephen scored decisively for driver Yannick Gingras
in 1:57.4. The son of Cantab Hall - Gala Dream was working out a
perfect second-over trip heading into the final turn but lost
his cover when Whiskey Tax (John Campbel) dropped in behind
pacesetting Celebrity Bombay (Ron Pierce).
That simply allowed Pastor Stephen to move up unobstructed
and the strapping youngster responded by hitting another gear in
the final quarter. He drew off on the field in the stretch to
win easily with Whiskey Tax coming back on to finish second over
VC Chocoholic (Trond Smedshammer), who landed the show spot.
"This horse is just getting better and better and he's
starting to realize he's a good horse," said winning trainer
Jimmy Takter. "I wasn't concerned when he lost his cover
tonight. He's a big, strong colt who doesn't mind first over. He
likes to hunt other horses."
Pastor Stephen returned just $2.70 as the overwhelming
favourite in the wagering. The victory was the fourth in five
starts with his only loss coming in a costly disqualification
after capturing the $500,000 Peter Haughton Memorial at The
Meadowlands on August 7. The colt's bankroll now stands at just
over $100,000 for owners Christina Takter of East Windsor, New
Jersey, John Fielding of Toronto, Ontario and Brittany Farms of
Versailles, Kentucky.
A major upset took place in the final division as the heavily
favoured and undefeated Talespinner made a costly break as the
gates unfolded, which made the event a wide open affair.
Imperial Count and driver Steve Condren left from Post 9 and
crossed over to take command before the opening quarter of :28.4
ahead of 43-1 longshot
Blue Porsche and driver Trevor Ritchie.
As the field marched towards the half, Ritchie and the son of
Glidemaster - Machita then took command of his rivals past the
half in :58.2. Jody Jamieson and Master Builder tried to clear
to the lead before the 1:26.1 three-quarters mark but were
unable to do so.
As the field turned for home, Master Builder faded in the
lane while Blue Porsche opened up on his rivals to win by six
lengths in 1:56.2, which is a new lifetime best. Rarely Ordinary
and John Campbell finished second with Imperial Count rounding
out the top three.
"I wasn't aware that Talespinner made a break because my
horse actually put in a step so I was more worried about him,"
winning driver Trevor Ritchie commented.
"Blair [trainer Blair Burgess] mentioned to me in the paddock
that he really liked this colt, so I decided to move him to the
front. I used my whip and tickled his tail and he just went into
another gear. It was like driving a sports car."
Blue Porsche paid $89.80 to win. He has won half of his four
starts and sports a bankroll of $54,936 for Burgess' father
Robert and his wife Karin. |