by Karen Briggs, WEG media department

Campbellville, ON — Sunday night’s (May 18) C$120,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold final for 3-year-old trotting lasses was captured by Darren McCall pupil Somebody To Love, who took shelter from a chilly wind in the middle of the pack and then made a bold three-wide move to triumph in 1:58.2.

Favorite Duchessofnorthyork made an extended break at the gate and trailed the field at a distance, while Its My Time made the early move to the front with linesman Rick Zeron. Beyond Limits caught a pocket ride through the half in :59.2 while Feels Like Magic and Somebody To Love bided their time in third and fourth.

New Image Media photo

Somebody To Love won the OSS Gold Final on Sunday in a time of 1:58.2.

Through the final turn Luc Ouellette made his move with Somebody To Love, coming three-wide beside a surging Feels Like Magic (Bill O’Donnell). A game Its My Time did her best to hang on, but had to settle for the show spot as Somebody To Love gained the advantage and went on to cross the wire 2-1/2 lengths ahead of runner-up Feels Like Magic.

Somebody To Love, a daughter of Angus Hall, had a stellar rookie season, earning over C$400,000 for owners the Mentally Stable. Thus far as a sophomore, she is two-for-two, having won her Gold elimination last week at Mohawk by 2-3/4 lengths.

Ouellette, who was involved in a spill in Sunday night’s first race when Hustler’s Luck tripped and fell, but walked away with only what he described as “tender spots,” brought his night back on the upswing with the win. He noted, “With the wind and everything, we tried to race her covered up through the middle of the race, if we could, and it worked out that way so we’re pretty happy.”

Ouellette also drove the dam of Somebody To Love, a Malabar Man mare named Pick Me Up, who was a Breeders Crown winner in 2002 and earned over half a million dollars over her career.

“The two are very different,” he said. “(Pick Me Up) was a very good front runner. She liked to be in front; she was a high-energy filly, and this filly here is the total opposite. But her mom was a good racehorse and she’s good in the breeding shed, too.”

Somebody To Love paid $6.10, $3.50, and $2.80 for the win.

B Strike Three, Andiron Springs capture OSS Gold elims

B Strike Three and Andiron Springs, both making their first starts of the season, were victorious in Sunday night’s pair of Ontario Sires Stakes Gold eliminations for 3-year-old colt trotters at Mohawk Racetrack.

B Strike Three entered his C$40,000 split off of two winning qualifiers at Hoosier Park for trainer Brett Shultz and had to work hard for a half-length tally in 1:57.4. Rick Zeron was up behind the son of Striking Sahbra-B Floto, who won four of 11 starts last season and more than C$350,000 as a rookie.

In Sunday’s assignment, the colt made a quarter-pole move to the front for driver Rick Zeron, held off a stern challenge from J S Chisum in the third quarter, and then gutted out the win over a hard-charging Start Livin with O U Gus finishing third.

“He’s pretty feisty when he’s out there, and he was pretty feisty with me tonight,” said Zeron. “I had to bring him off the track tonight and we adjusted a few things with him to get him calmed down a bit. We just changed the plugs up on him. He was like that last year, but after he got raced a little bit he calmed down. This colt will dig in and give you every ounce of trot he has in him.”

B Strike Three is trained in Ontario by Raz MacKenzie for owner Ben Robards III.

In the opening split, Andiron Springs turned in a gutsy first-over effort for driver Jack Moiseyev to score in 1:57.1, the faster of the two eliminations. The son of Striking Sahbra-Annie’s Rule, who won four of his eight starts as a freshman, upended favorite Logans Hero with Society Kad rounding out the top three.

The colt was also coming in off a pair of impressive qualifying victories at Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland. Frank Colville will handle the conditioning of the colt while in Ontario for owner John Swart.

The C$120,000 Gold Final will be contested next Monday night (May 26) at Mohawk.

Here is a look at the field in post position order:

1. J S Chisum
2. O U Gus
3. Andiron Springs
4. Logans Hero
5. Hot And Coldplay
6. Start Livin
7. Nureyev
8. Society Kad
9. B Strike Three
10. Sergeant York

— Greg Blanchard also contributed to this report