by Ontario Sire Stakes

Toronto, ON — Ontario’s top 3-year-old pacing colts kicked off Mohawk Racetrack’s C$2.4 million evening of stakes on Saturday (Sept. 3) and served up a preview of the lightning fast racing to come as both Gold Series divisions were clocked in 1:49.3.

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Betting Line collects his 10th consecutive victory and his fourth Gold Series trophy on Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack.

The colts opened the stakes action in the second race and fan favorite Sintra took control just past the :26 opening quarter and never looked back. Sailing through a :55.2 half and 1:23 three-quarters, driver Jody Jamieson kept his foot on the accelerator down the stretch and Sintra hit the wire four lengths ahead of his peers in a personal best 1:49.3. Early leader Voracity finished second and Nocturnal Bluechip was third.

“I was worried about winning first, but secondly, I thought he was pacing pretty good in the stretch and I kept asking him,” said Jamieson. “”I was happy to see 1:49.3 for sure.”

The Moffat resident engineered the win for trainer Dave Menary of Cambridge, and his partners Brad Gray of Dundas and Michael Guerriero of Brampton, Ont. The win was Sintra’s second in Gold Series action and his eighth in 13 sophomore starts. The winner’s share of the C$105,000 purse bumped his earnings to C$256,200.

“I was hoping that I’d get to the front fairly easily, and I did, and the horse, he always does what you ask him. He’s a real, real good horse,” added Jamieson. “Sintra just seems to do what you ask of him, and it seems to be win.”

With two wins and three seconds in Gold Series action, Sintra finishes up the regular season in second spot in the division standings with 175 points, just 25 behind defending champion Betting Line, who won his fourth straight Gold trophy in the second division.

Starting from post two, driver David Miller sent Betting Line after the lead heading by the :26.1 quarter. Once they took control, the fan favorites rang up a :54.1 half and a 1:22.3 three-quarters on their way to the 1:49.3 victory, one and one-quarter lengths ahead of Piranha and Magnum J.

The victory extended Betting Line’s win streak to an even 10 and boosted his season earnings to C$1,189,500. In addition to four Gold Series divisions, the son of Bettors Delight and Heathers Western has captured his division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, his elimination and the final of the Pepsi North America Cup, all at Mohawk, the Carl Milstein Memorial at Northfield Park and the Battle of the Brandywine at Pocono Downs in a world record 1:47.2.

“He’s come back after his 2-year-old year a lot better than we thought,” said Chatham resident Steve Calhoun, who, with his wife Christine Calhoun, owns Betting Line in partnership with trainer Casie Coleman of Cambridge, Ross Warriner and Mac Nichol of Burlington, ON. “He had a great 2-year-old year, but the Breeders Crown race was really tough on him, he got parked to a very fast three-quarters, and we were a little nervous. Sometimes a colt at the end of his year, if he gets used like that, he won’t come back as good as he has been, at three. So were nervous about that, but he’s obviously exceeded all of those expectations and is a far better colt than we had hoped he would be, he’s spectacular.”

At two Betting Line captured six of 12 starts and banked C$540,422 for the partners, racing exclusively in Ont.. The August 13 Milstein Memorial was the colt’s first foray south of the border and Calhoun says that outing, and the world record effort on August 20 at Pocono Downs, have broadened the pacer’s fan base.

“We’ve had a lot of calls and well wishes from people in the U.S. It’s interesting, you can win a lot of races in Canada, but until you go down to the United States and do it, you’re still not in the big picture,” noted the owner. “So having him go down and win at Northfield, and then win again at Pocono, has really put him on the map obviously, and has really broadened the number of people who are aware of what a good horse he really is.”

Betting Line will make his next start in the Sept. 10 Simcoe Stakes at Mohawk before heading back down to the United States for the Little Brown Jug on Thursday (Sept. 22) and Calhoun expects the colt to be in prime shape for his third American appearance.

“You can’t race a horse at his absolute top for 16 or 17 starts in a year, nobody can do that,” said Calhoun. “And so you really do have to kind of map out a strategy and try and find spots for him where maybe it’s not quite as tough, so that in the races that you really do prioritise you have him at his absolute 120 per cent.

“So that’s what we’ve done, and so far so good, although at times it is hard to watch others win really big purses, especially in U.S. dollars,” adds the owner with a laugh. “But stick with the plan and it’s all working out well. He’ll be really good for the Jug. As you know Casie prizes the Little Brown Jug, and she will have him ready, and he will race good, I’m fully, fully confident.”

The top 10 point earners in the 3-year-old pacing colt division will return to Mohawk Racetrack for the Oct. 15 Super Final, which will wrap up their Ontario Sires Stakes careers.