Fans taking in the Industry Day festivities at Grand River Raceway did not believe elimination winner Creampuff Macdaddy could overcome the outside Post 8 in the Aug. 6 Gold Final, but the two-year-old trotting colt proved them wrong.
Driver Jack Moiseyev abandoned the mount on Creampuff Macdaddy in favour of Majestized, who started from the trailing Post 9, so Randy Waples picked up the catch drive aboard the Brad Maxwell trainee.
In the elimination round Creampuff Macdaddy sprinted to a 2:01 victory, and in the final Waples opted to use the colt’s speed to rocket out to an early lead.
Waples took his foot off the accelerator and allowed Creampuff Macdaddy a breather to the 1:00.3 half, but maintained enough pace through the 1:30 three-quarters to hold off challenger Sparky Gypsy.
Having done a great deal of work on the outside through the middle of the race, elimination winner Sparky Gypsy, owned by Bill Manes of Rockwood, began to fade around the final turn and eventually made a break in the stretch.
Creampuff Macdaddy turned for home with a one and one-half length lead and cruised under the wire a one length winner in a personal best 2:00.2.
Pocket sitter Third Pat earned the second-place share of the $130,000 Gold Final purse, while Gotta Secret circled around Sparky Gypsy to finish third.
Guelph resident Maxwell conditions Creampuff Macdaddy for Douglas Millard of Woodstock, who purchased the son of Ken Warkentin and Celebrity Cream for $22,000 from last fall’s Canadian Yearling Sale.
The colt started his Ontario Sires Stakes career with a fourth-place effort in the Grassroots season opener at Clinton Raceway on July 8, then moved up to the Gold Series for the second event, finishing sixth in his July 16 elimination at Mohawk Racetrack.
Last week’s victory was Creampuff Macdaddy’s first.
With three different Gold Final winners in the first three events of the season, the Aug. 6 victory boosted Creampuff Macdaddy up the division standings into second, just eight points behind Murmur Hanover.
The two-year-old trotting colt Gold Final served as a prelude to the finals for Grand River Raceway’s $150,000 Battle of the Belles and $300,000 Battle of Waterloo.
In the two-year-old pacing filly contest, Macharoundtheclock and driver Jody Jamieson delivered an outstanding come from behind effort to hit the wire in a stakes record equaling 1:55.1.
The win was the Mach Three daughter’s first in just her third lifetime start for trainer Dave Menary of Cheltenham, his father Larry Menary of Cheltenham, Ken Ewen of Georgetown and Denis Breton of Welland.
In the afternoon’s finale, Dave Menary and Denis Breton were back in the winner’s circle along with their partners Brad Gray of Dundas and Bruce Norris of Caledon East after their two-year-old pacing colt Tarpon Hanover destroyed his Battle of Waterloo competition in a track record 1:53.
Driver Scott Zeron engineered the Badlands Hanover son’s spectacular victory, which saw Tarpon Hanover finish several lengths ahead of Mach Pride and Bad Boy Hill.
