by Greg Blanchard. WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Equity delivered as expected while Structure Fire scored a shocker in Saturday’s (August 1) pair of Ontario Sires Stakes Gold eliminations for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters at Mohawk Racetrack.

Structure Fire used off-the-pace tactics to score a surprise victory in the first C$40,000 elimination for driver Jason Brewer in 1:54.3. The son of Amigo Hall-Fire Breather sat inside fifth for much of the mile before hitting his best stride in the homestretch to wear down a hard-used Hitithard with P L Cooper rounding out the top three.

The victory was the third in 12 tries this season for Structure Fire and a new lifetime best. Trainer Gary Lance co-owns the colt along with Trevor Lance and Brian Samis. The lion’s share of the purse propelled him past C$69,000 in seasonal earnings. He returned $29.20 in the upset win.

New Image Media photo

Equity won his Gold elim in a time of 1:55.1.

In the second split, Equity, who started from the trailing post 11, converted off a perfect second-over trip compliments of driver Randy Waples and extended his unbeaten streak to seven with a solid 1:55.1 tally. Angeldrive set most of the fractions and held gamely for the place spot with Panz Kafka landing the show position.

“It would have been easier to leave behind the one (post one starter), but I just wanted to make sure I gave him a clean trip,” said Waples, referring to his decision to leave out behind the number four starter Angeldrive. “That was the game plan, to let him settle away and go from there.

“He’s a really good horse, there’s no doubt about that. The only thing that’s going to beat him is some bad luck or if he beats himself. They’ve got him real good right now.”

The son of Kadabra-Earl Of My Dreams now has nine wins in just 11 starts this season for trainer Charalambos Christoforou who co-owns along with the Banjo Farms. He returned just $3.00 for the win and boosted his seasonal earnings to just over C$256,000.

The C$130,000 OSS Gold Final will go postward next Saturday night (August 8) at Mohawk. Here is a look at the field in post position order: 1. Equity, 2. Senator Hall, 3. Hour Lavec, 4. Structure Fire, 5. P L Cooper, 6. Hitithard, 7. Angeldrive, 8. Celebrity Hercules, 9. Panz Kafka, and 10. Illusionsndreams.