by Karen Briggs, WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Keystone Horatio and Santanna Blue Chip duked it out as expected in the first of two C$130,326 divisions of the Simcoe Stakes for 3-year-old pacing colts on Saturday night (September 6) at Mohawk, with Santanna Blue Chip prevailing by a nose at the wire.

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Santanna Blue Chip edged Keystone Horatio in their Simcoe Stakes division.

Pedestrian early fractions set the pair up for a sprint to the wire, with Keystone Horatio and Randy Waples rallying from the pocket spot to challenge leader Santanna Blue Chip on the inside. For several strides the two were inseparable, but Jody Jamieson managed to squeeze just a drop more from the son of Art Major, which he co-owns with father Carl Jamieson, Jeff Gillis, and the George Arthur Stable. They crossed the wire in 1:53.2, with Keystone Horatio second and Get Out Of Dodge (Phil Hudon) stepping up for third.

“Randy cleared in :27.2 and we both hadn’t raced since the Confederation Cup, so I wasn’t sure how tight his horse was,” Jamieson said. “I knew my horse might not be quite as tight as he needed to be, but with the short field we kind of got lucky there. My horse paced right to the wire, paced through hard.

“Down the stretch it’s hard to shake good horses no matter how fast you’re going, and Keystone Horatio is a good horse no matter who he races against. But my horse was good today, and this should be a good prep for the (Little Brown) Jug.”

Jamieson is clearly pumped at the prospect of competing in harness racing’s traditional showcase for pacers.

“Hopefully, with a good draw, we’ll give them a run this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun having my own horse in there.”