by Sandra Snyder

INNISFIL — Damp weather left the Georgian Downs oval one second slower than normal on Saturday night, but it made no difference to Majestic Son as the three-year-old trotting colt chewed up his second straight track and Ontario Sires Stakes record this week.

Starting from the outside Post 8 in the first of two C$50,000 Gold Eliminations, driver Trevor Ritchie floated Majestic Son off the gate into fourth place as Indiana Hall rocked to a :27.4 opening quarter. Heading for the :57 half Ritchie sent the prohibitive favorite after the lead and by the time Majestic Son hit the 1:26.1 three-quarters he had established a one and one-quarter length margin.

Still a length and a quarter on top as he turned for home, Majestic Son proceeded to draw away from the field, reaching the wire three and a quarter lengths ahead of rival Was It A Dream in a track and Ontario Sires Stakes record 1:54.4. Early pacesetter Indiana Hall stayed game for third, and Yorktown Gunner and Distant Memories rounded out the top five.

Majestic Son’s outstanding performance lowered the Georgian Downs track record by almost one full second and peeled one-fifth of a second off the Ontario Sires Stakes record for three-year-old trotting colts on a five-eighths mile oval, originally set by Woodman in 1994 and matched in 2002 by Priceless Gem. Last Sunday the gifted colt shattered the Flamboro Downs track record and the OSS record for sophomore colts on a half-mile with his 1:55 win in the third Gold Final of the season.

The win was the Angus Hall son’s fifth straight and his eighth this season for trainer Mark Steacy and the Majestic Son Stable of Lansdowne. The winner has now captured three Gold Eliminations, one Gold Final, the elimination and final of the Canadian Breeders Championship and the Goodtimes Final through 11 starts this season.

While Majestic Son has dominated the division this far in the season, the other Gold Elimination went to a colt making his debut on the provincial stakes circuit.

Strider cruised to a 1:57.1 victory over former Gold Final winner Colonel Talbot and Dr Robert Johns. Georgian Downs’ leading driver, Dan Clements piloted Strider to the one and three-quarter length triumph, utilizing tactics similar to those that landed Majestic Son in the winner’s circle.

Leaving from Post 1 Clements eased Strider off the gate into fourth, moved up the outside heading by the 58.1 half and took command well before the 1:27.2 three-quarters. By the top of the stretch the fan favorite had a two length margin on his peers, and while Colonel Talbot tried to reel him in through the stretch, Strider was an easy winner in his Gold Series debut.

Investor and Campbell Hall picked up the fourth and fifth-place checks in the second elimination, but Campbell Hall lost the draw for the last spot in the Gold Final to Distant Memories.

The win was Strider’s fourth in a 10 race season that has seen him miss just one check for trainer Alan Wolosinovsky and his partner Catharine Simons of Princeton. A fourth-place finish in the Canadian Breeders Championship Final earned the Super Star Ranger son his ticket into the Gold Series and the gelding will have an opportunity to capitalize on the opportunity from Post 3 in next Saturday’s C$130,000 Gold Final.