by Karen Briggs/WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Paul MacDonell captured his second Canadian Breeders’ Championship of the night, piloting Define the World to a stunning five-length victory in a new lifetime best clocking of 1:54.1.

Longshot O U Gus shot to the early lead from the extreme outside, with Society Kad in the pocket spot off the gate, but 3-5 favorite B Strike Three wasn’t about to let them escape for long, seizing the lead at the 3/8 pole. Paul MacDonell urged Define the World to follow, and with a sharp acceleration the John Bax trainee forged to the front at the half, with Rick Zeron content to let B Strike Three grab the pocket spot. When it came time for B Strike Three to pop that pocket and make his move however, the colt just didn’t have what it took, and could only watch MacDonell’s back as Define the World sprinted to an unassailable lead in the stretch and crossed the wire all alone in the C$166,723 final for 3-year-old trotting colts.

19-1 shot, McCarron, with Randy Waples, made a late rush to grab second, with elim winner Shoeless White Sox (Steve Condren) third and B Strike Three holding on to fourth.

MacDonell, who was enjoying a good day at the office, said, “The horse felt sharp to me, and down the backstretch the pace didn’t seem very fast so I took a moment and seized it, and away he went.

“B Strike Three is a quality horse, and I knew he would be the one to beat. Rick moved on me around the last turn and my horse picked up a bit right when he did that, so the rest is history. He had lots of trot through the wire. You have to keep him to task a little bit (because) he gets wandering when he’s by himself, but he went a pretty good mile.”

Define the World, a gelded son of Duke of York out of Venice Holiday, is a homebred from the barn of Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ontario. His record now stands at seven wins and four seconds in 13 starts this season.

Southwind Swallow shocks in CBC 3YO Filly Pace

19-1 shot, Southwind Swallow, and trainer/driver Mike Vanderkemp, pulled off a stunning upset victory in the second of four Canadian Breeders’ Championship contests tonight at Mohawk.

The C$168,551 CBC final for 3-year-old filly pacers seemed to be destined to go to 4-5 favorite Im Just Special, but some savvy racing strategy kept that filly and driver Mike Saftic boxed in and out of racing room for most of the mile, resulting in a sixth place finish. Instead, at the finish line was a five-wide flotilla of flat-out fillies, with Southwind Swallow poking her head in front from the extreme outside over Shipps Bikini (Randy Waples), Changing Gears (Jack Moiseyev), A Feisty Affair (Mark MacDonald), and Voelz Hanover (Mario Baillargeon). The winning time was 1:52.1.

“It wasn’t till the last few strides that I thought I got there,” said Vanderkemp. “About 200 out, I didn’t know what was going on there … there were three or four of us who could’ve won it.

“I just wanted to follow the good ones and hopefully be handy swinging in, then get out and get something late. As it turned out, we got out around the turn and she came up three-wide. She likes to run up to them but she doesn’t always like to go by, that’s her problem!

“Nothing against Paul (MacDonell), who’s done a great job with her last year and this year, but I just wanted to have a drive and see whether she was worth staking some more. I think the answer to that is yes, at least in Canada.”

Southwind Swallow, a daughter of No Pan Intended out of the Artsplace mare, Sing Fat Lady, is owned by the Adam Victor and Son Stable of New York, and Blue Chip Bloodstock. She was an elimination winner last week and now has three wins in 22 starts to her credit.

Tell the world it’s Define The World in 3YO Colt Trot

Paul MacDonell captured his second Canadian Breeders’ Championship of the night, piloting Define the World to a stunning five-length victory in a new lifetime best clocking of 1:54.1.

Longshot O U Gus shot to the early lead from the extreme outside, with Society Kad in the pocket spot off the gate, but 3-5 favorite B Strike Three wasn’t about to let them escape for long, seizing the lead at the 3/8 pole. Paul MacDonell urged Define the World to follow, and with a sharp acceleration the John Bax trainee forged to the front at the half, with Rick Zeron content to let B Strike Three grab the pocket spot. When it came time for B Strike Three to pop that pocket and make his move, however, the colt just didn’t have what it took, and could only watch MacDonell’s back as Define the World sprinted to an unassailable lead in the stretch and crossed the wire all alone in the C$166,723 final for 3-year-old trotting colts.

19-1 shot, McCarron, with Randy Waples, made a late rush to grab second, with elim winner Shoeless White Sox (Steve Condren) third and B Strike Three holding on to fourth.

MacDonell, who was enjoying a good day at the office, said, “The horse felt sharp to me, and down the backstretch the pace didn’t seem very fast so I took a moment and seized it, and away he went.

“B Strike Three is a quality horse, and I knew he would be the one to beat. Rick moved on me around the last turn and my horse picked up a bit right when he did that, so the rest is history. He had lots of trot through the wire * you have to keep him to task a little bit (because) he gets wandering when he’s by himself, but he went a pretty good mile.”

Define the World, a gelded son of Duke of York out of Venice Holiday, is a homebred from the barn of Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ontario. His record now stands at seven wins and four seconds in 13 starts this season.

Horatio hauls down the Mohegan Pan in 3YO Colt Pace

After placing second three times in a row in earlier Canadian Breeders’ Championships divisions, driver Randy Waples finally scored in the C$165,821 glamour boy division for 3-year-old pacing colts with Keystone Horatio, Saturday night at Mohawk.

Sent off as the 7-5 second choice to arch-rival The Mohegan Pan, who was even money, Keystone Horatio played a waiting game while Keystone Debonair (Jack Moiseyev) set the early pace with British-owned Lucky Man tucking into the pocket. The Mohegan Pan and Steve Condren wasted little time, however, clearing to the front by a first quarter in :27.3. He fended off a challenge from Lyons Geoff and Rick Zeron through a :55.3 half, and looked to be cruising to victory, but a stalking Keystone Horatio made good on their continuing rivalry by rushing by on the outside in the final strides, stopping the timers in 1:50.4.

The Mohegan Pan was second, with Lucky Man stepping up for third and Lyons Geoff fourth.

“It’s turning into quite a rivalry,” commented Waples. “I give all the credit in the world to The Mohegan Pan. He’s a really, really nice colt and he beat me fair and square last week. But I’ve always considered my horse to be a better hunter, than hunted. I got racing him in front for a while and it seemed to be working, but I talked it over with (trainer) John (Kopas) and he told me, ‘go ahead, do whatever you want’, so I decided to back him off and let him become the hunter again. I just think that’s the trip that he likes the best.

“He’s been great both years,” Waples added. “He’s just never really been lucky with the draw when we’re going for money. Tonight he drew the six hole which is huge for him; usually it’s nine or ten. He’s racked up a lot of money and he’s had to do it the hard way, but he’s a great, great horse to drive. I hope they bring him back next year because he’d be a lot of fun. He’s a beautiful animal to be around, very accommodating.”

Keystone Horatio is by Rustler Hanover out of the Shady Character mare, Keystone Havoc.