from Standardbred Canada

London, ON — Lucky Man and Foiled Again took their respective C$25,000 Molson Pace eliminations, which were marred with a catastrophic injury sustained by Maltese Artist on Friday (May 22) at Western Fair Raceway.

Driver Brad Forward, who returned from the World Driving Championship in Norway, and Lucky Man, the 7-1 third choice, prevailed in the first elimination after the heavy favorite and pacesetter Maltese Artist (Jody Jamieson) made a devastating break causing interference to the field and pulled up at the three-quarter mark.

Maltese Artist had rolled through panels of :28, :57 and 1:24.2 before making the break. Lucky Man, who made the first-over sacrifice at the half, narrowly avoided a collision and managed to come on for the win in 1:54.2. Lyons Geoff (Trevor Henry) finished 2-1/2 lengths back in second off a pocket trip and Silent Swing (Chris Christoforou) was third. Stormaway (Dan Megens) finished fourth and also advanced to the final.

Lucky Man earned his third win of ’09 in 10 starts, pushing his yearly earnings over the C$100,000 mark. The 4-year-old gelded son of Camluck picked up his eighth lifetime score bringing his bankroll to C$374,787 for trainer Casie Coleman and owner Tom Hill of Lancashire, Great Britain.

“You never want to see that happen. That’s not the way I wanted to get into the final,” Coleman said in regards to Maltese Artist’s break in a post-race interview with Frank Salive.

In the second elimination, Levy winner Foiled Again, the 2-1 second choice, trounced his four rivals with a wire-to-wire score in 1:52.2 for trainer Ron Burke, who shares ownership with Weaver Bruscemi LLC and JJK Stables LLC.

The 5-year-old gelded son of Dragon Again carved out panels of :27.1 and :55.1 while the favorite, Shadow Play (David Miller), applied pressure on the outside, but failed to gain ground on the pacesetter. Foiled Again reached three-quarters in 1:24 and then rolled home in :28.2 for the one length victory over the pocket-sitting Clowns Smile (Mark MacDonald) and Eagle Luck (Doug McNair). Ramegade Bruiser (Chris Christoforou) finished fourth.

The win was Foiled Again’s seventh in eight outings bringing his yearly earnings to C$313,750. His 27th career win lifted his bankroll over the C$700,000 mark.

The third place finish for Eagle Luck pushed him over a special career milestone — the C$1 million mark for career earnings. The 6-year-old son of Camluck is trained by Gregg MacNair for Frank Dettore Horse Racin of Ohio. The winner of last year’s Molson Pace has compiled a record reading 17-13-14 in 93 starts.

After Friday evening’s eliminations at Western Fair Raceway, here is the field for the C$280,000 Molson Pace final on May 29:

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer
1-Eagle Luck-Doug McNair-Gregg McNair
2-Stormaway-Dan Megens-Dan Megens
3-Lyons Geoff-Trevor Henry-Bruce Goit
4-Clowns Smile-Mark MacDonald-Casie Coleman
5-Foiled Again-Jody Jamieson or Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke
6-Silent Swing-(pending)*-Jean Louis Arsenault
7-Lucky Man-Brad Forward-Casie Coleman
8-Ramegade Bruiser-(pending)*-David Brown
AE-Shadow Play-David Miller-Dr. Ian Moore

*Chris Christoforou drove both Silent Swing and Ramegade Bruiser in their respective eliminations.