by Sandra Snyder

Rexdale, ON — There were no tricks in store for Lady Dillinger on Halloween Night at Woodbine Racetrack, as she captured her third straight C$130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final in commanding style.

Leaving from post nine, driver Mike Saftic fired the three-year-old pacing filly straight to the front where they rolled through fractions of :26.4, :55.4 and 1:24.2 and then drew away from the field in the stretch to score the four and a half length victory in a personal best 1:52. Two-time Gold Final winner Lady D M claimed the runner-up spot, long shot Iseerightthrough U shadowed Lady Dillinger through the mile and hung on for third and the other Gold elimination winner, K G Delight, earned the fourth place check.

Sent off as the favorite, Lady Dillinger returned $3.70 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.40 to show, while third choice Lady D M returned $3.80 on a place wager and $3.30 for each show voucher. Longshot Iseerightthrough U delivered a $11.80 show return. The exactor was worth $14.90, the triactor paid $186.40 and adding K G Delight on for a superfecta play earned fans $396.30.

With her eighth win in 17 starts, the mile shaved three-fifths of a second off Lady Dillinger’s former personal best and left her well ahead of rival Lady D M in the division standings with a total of 274 points. The D M Dilinger daughter also boosted her lifetime earnings to $735,186 with the effort.

Waterdown resident Gaetan Hebert bred, owns and trains the talented young pacer who will make her next start in the November 12 Super Final at Woodbine Racetrack. If she continues to race well, fans may even see the Ontario Sires Stakes star make the trip to The Meadowlands for the November 18 Breeders Crown eliminations.

“I might go to the Meadowlands,” said Hebert before Monday’s race. “I might supplement her to the Breeder’s Crown.”

Lady Dillinger tackled North America’s top sophomore fillies in the Fan Hanover earlier this season and finished second in her elimination and third in the final, in spite of being handicapped by post nine.

Shiny new shoes give Majestic Son a lift

Majestic Son will be hampered by the outside post 10 in Friday night’s (November 4) C$130,000 Gold Final at Woodbine Racetrack, but trainer Mark Steacy hopes a recent change in footwear will help the two-year-old trotting colt overcome the handicap.

“We were able to go back to his regular shoes, steel shoes, for last week and he was 100%,” says Steacy. “When Rick (Zeron) came off the track he said it was just day and night. He was safe the whole mile.”

Steacy had switched Majestic Son from steel shoes to glue-on shoes in an effort to grow the colt’s feet out, but the trade off was that the Angus Hall son made critical breaks in his last three stakes engagements.

“On trotters, sometimes every bit of weight makes a difference,” says the Lansdowne resident, who trains Majestic Son for David Reid of Glenburnie, David McDonald of Cornwall, A K Malik Stable of Ottawa and Dr. Malcolm Man Son Hing of Nepean. “He would fall a little bit apart at the end of the mile, when he got tired.”

Heading into last Friday’s Gold elimination at the Rexdale oval, Steacy felt the colt’s feet had gained enough length to return to traditional steel shoes and nails. Majestic Son responded with an impressive 1:58.4 victory that saw him clock a :28.3 last quarter, faster than he had trotted any mile or last quarter since capturing a division of the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on September 5.

“He was really good last week,” notes the trainer. “He’s always been so good. If it wasn’t for the odd problem with breaks he’d probably have another $200,000 on his card. He can carry his speed a long way.”

Majestic Son made his racing debut in the Gold Series season opener at Georgian Downs, where he recovered from a break at the three-quarters to finish fifth. He then swept his elimination and the final of the Gold event at Grand River Raceway in late July and was second in both the elimination and final at Rideau Carleton Raceway in August.

One week later Majestic Son established himself as one of the top young trotters in North American with his 1:55.4 Champlain victory, but that effort marked the end of the colt’s hot streak as he made breaks in the September 12 William Wellwood eliminations and the September 29 Gold eliminations at Mohawk.

The trotter’s next outing was a lackluster qualifier at Mohawk on October 4 and then he was back in against North America’s best in the October 15 Valley Victory eliminations where driver Rick Zeron managed to hold everything together to earn a third place check and a berth in the C$555,485 final on October 22.

Things did not go so well in the final as Majestic Son went off stride at the top of the stretch, but fortunately he and eventual winner R C Royalty were so far ahead of the competition that there was no chance of interference and he was awarded the runner-up spot.

With just Friday’s final and the November 12 Super Final remaining on Majestic Son’s calendar, Steacy is hoping the colt can maintain his current footwear, and form, for two more starts.

“Hopefully that is the way he can go for the next two starts,” says the horseman. “If he doesn’t make a break, I think he’s the fastest horse in there.”

Majestic Son and his peers will battle for the last Gold Final trophy of their freshman season in race four on Woodbine Racetrack’s Friday evening program, which gets under way at 7:40 p.m.

Woodbine Racetrack Gold Final — Friday, November 4
Post – Horse – Sire – Driver – Trainer
1 – Quantum The King – (Angus Hall) – C. Christoforou – T. Andersson
2 – B Cor Rennegade – (CR Renegade) – M. Saftic – G. Gordon
3 – Brylin Lavec – (Mr Lavec) – Ra. Waples – G. Peters
4 – Campbell Hall – (Striking Sahbra) – J. Moiseyev – R. McIntosh
5 – Ebony Strike – (Striking Sahbra) – S. Condren – R. Maxwell
6 – Mr Lemon – (Mr Lavec) – J. Jamieson – C. Jamieson
7 – Dr Robert Johns – (Balanced Image) – J. Moiseyev – A. Wolden
8 – Was It A Dream – (Striking Sahbra) – P. MacDonell – P. Wellwood
9 – Mr Ontario – (Mr Lavec) – T. Ritchie – D. Menary
10 – Majestic Son – (Angus Hall) – R. Zeron – M. Steacy
AE1 – Pass And Strike – (Striking Sahbra) – M. Saftic – L. Gilchrist
AE2 – Lord Valentine – (CR Renegade) – L. Ouellette – N. Jones
AE3 – Rush Fan – (Angus Hall) – J. Jamieson – M. Guitard