by Greg Blanchard, WEG Media

Toronto, ON — Both favorites fell to defeat in Monday’s (Nov. 24) pair of C$25,000 Ontario Sired Autumn Series eliminations for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers at Woodbine Racetrack.

In the opening contest, Striking Rich took advantage of an early break in stride by Tenacious Kyle to grab the early lead. Once on top, he was never seriously threatened and went on to a 2:00.4 tally for Trevor Ritchie over a hard-closing Pile Driver J T with Mr Go finishing in third.

It was the second win of the campaign for the gelded son of Striking Sahbra-Monteleone, who was coming off a third-place finish in the C$300,000 OSS Super Final at Woodbine. The win boosted the Mike Guitard trainee’s earnings to $77,619 for the Haryott Stables Inc.

Southwind Rew pulled off a mild upset for driver Sylvain Filion in the second elimination by making the front early and posting a wire-to-wire victory in 1:58. Race favorite Joe Page was a traffic-troubled second with Brendan R Boy picking up the show spot.

It was the second straight win at Woodbine for the son of Kadabra-Southwind Redbud who is trained by Daniel Lagace for owner Brad Gray. The victory improved his record to four wins in 13 starts this year and $42,678 in earnings.

The C$47,500 Ontario Sired Autumn Series Final will go postward next Monday night (Dec. 1) at Woodbine.