from Standardbred Canada

Mississauga, ON — The third and final trial for this year’s Sobey’s Gold Cup & Saucer was contested Monday evening at the Charlottetown Driving Park and Machs Beach Boy and driver Doug McNair showed no mercy to the foes they faced.

The 4-year-old son of Mach Three-Letsgo Sparkle took over command in front of the grandstand and powered away from the competition in a sparkling time of 1:52.2.

Savannah Splendor carved out the quarter in :26.2, but he relinquished the lead when Machs Beach Boy and McNair came calling on the way to the half. Machs Beach Boy hit the half in :54.1 before rolling the field to the three-quarter pole in 1:24. A :28.3 closing panel helped propel Machs Beach Boy to a winning margin of 12-1/2 lengths over Lulus Boy. Savannah Splendor finished third.

“He’s been real good, he should have won last week but I had him too far out of it,” said driver Doug McNair. “The last three of four starts he’s really come together and he was really good tonight. He definitely needs to draw good (for the final), it’s a real tough race. I think James MacDonald is going to take over in the final, and he’s a great guy to take over. He’s got a great set of hands and I’ll be cheering for him.”

Brad Shakes trains the 10-time winner for Dan Mogridge and Jeff Oborne. The pacer improved his 2013 record to 7-2-0 from 21 trips postward while bumping his lifetime earnings to $179,256 with the win.