by Jeff Renton, media/communications, the Woodbine Entertainment Group

TORONTO, February 18, 2006 – After having not raced competitively since winning Woodbine’s C$44,200 final of the Valedictory Pacing Series on December 30, Pacific Mariner, a son of Astreos driven by Luc Ouellette and trained by Kevin McMaster, will look for his seventh consecutive victory this Monday evening over the Toronto oval, as he has drawn into the second of two C$18,000 opening leg divisions of the Ontario Boys Pacing Series. The series is restricted to Ontario-sired four-year-olds who were non-winners of $60,000 in lifetime earnings, as of October 31, 2005.

Both of the opening leg divisions can be seen live, coast to coast in Canada, on The Score Television Network. Race Night on The Score will go to air at 7:30 p.m. before concluding at 10:00 p.m.

The $18,000 second leg is scheduled for Monday, February 27, while the C$55,200 (estimated) final will be held on Monday, March 6.

Contacted Saturday morning for his comments regarding his mount, Ouellette sang Pacific Mariner’s praises.

“Since I have come up from the Meadowlands, he seems to be one of the truly special horses that I’ve been able to sit behind,” said Ouellette, a resident of Campbellville, Ontario.

“I love that he’s a [son of] Astreos and I love that he’s crossed with a Cam Fella mare [Pacific Kiss]; it really seems to give him that toughness. He’s a real athlete on the racetrack,” continued Ouellette, who, going into Saturday evening’s action at Woodbine, is ranked sixth in wins (30) on the WEG circuit.

Pacific Mariner (PP6, Luc Ouellette, 2-5) is the heavy morning line favorite in the seven-horse second division (Race 6, 9:26 p.m.).

The seven-horse opening division has been carded as the second race (8:02 p.m.) on the 10-dash docket, which holds a first race post time of 7:40 p.m.

Pacific Mariner went unraced as a two-year-old, but assembled a very impressive resume in his 2005 season as a three-year-old. The brown gelding raced 20 times and notched 12 wins to go along with three second-place efforts and a trio of third-place finishes, good for $108,336 in purse earnings for owners Shady Hill Racing Stable of Guelph, and Charles Muylaert of Nobleton, Ontario.

After starting off 2005 in the barn of the great Keith Waples, Pacific Mariner made his first start for McMaster on October 18 at Woodbine, where he routed a conditioned, non-winners of two lifetime races event, posting a wire-to-wire win in 1:50.1, still his life’s best clocking to date.

Respective second and third-place performances followed for Pacific Mariner in his next two starts for McMaster. But, since those two races, the speedy gelding, who always seems to be a fixture on the lead, hasn’t been beaten and has been sent off as the overwhelming favorite in each of those dashes.

Included in the six-race win streak have been sweeps of both his division of the Ontario Sires Autumn Series (O.S.A.S.) and the Valedictory Series.

After being shut down for a while after his triumph in the Valedictory, Pacific Mariner put in a qualifying mile at Mohawk on February 15. In the dash, he converted a pocket trip to record a 1 ¼-length victory in a leisurely time of 1:57.1.

Below are the fields for the opening leg of the Ontario Boys Series.

Division #1
Post Position – Horse – Driver – Trainer – Morning Line Odds
1 – Jans Cam – C. Christoforou – J. Stutzman – 5-2
2 – Osprey Ridge – Ma. MacDonald – B. MacInnis – 9-2
3 – Almost Gunned Down – Ra. Waples – R. Gowan – 8-1
4 – Vijay Bert – K. Oliver – P. Hamilton – 8-1
5 – Could Be A Player – J. Jamieson – E. Beach – 6-1
6 – Ca Fortune – R. Mayotte – M. Cecile – 6-1
7 – Northern Edge – Do. Brown – Do. Brown – 2-1

Division #2
Post Position – Horse – Driver – Trainer – Morning Line Odds
1 – Blue Burner – Ma. MacDonald – C. Coleman – 4-1
2 – Whippet Good – S. Weber – J. de Chellis – 10-1
3 – Dancers Luck – M. Saftic – G. Hill – 15-1
4 – Buckys Luck – R. Zeron – R. Bourgeois – 10-1
5 – Icantwork Likethis – P. MacDonell – J. McGinnis – 8-1
6 – Pacific Mariner – L. Ouellette – K. McMaster – 2-5
7 – Royas Scooter – K. Oliver – P. Hamilton – 15-1