Second round of the Summertime Series held at Mohawk
July 20, 2012,by Ashley Mayotte, WEG Communications
Campbellville, ON — Favorite State Treasurer and longshot Fantastic Rock took top honors in their respective C$30,000 second leg divisions of the Summertime Pacing Series on Friday night (July 20) at Mohawk.
With driver Jody Jamieson at the helm, State Treasurer front-stepped his way to the winner’s circle in the first dash for trainer Dr. Ian Moore.
Goban (Anthony MacDonald) powered off the gate to take the early lead, but the 1-9 favorite State Treasurer drove on to claim the front after clocking the first quarter in :26.1 from the outside.
The 3-year-old then held command past the half in :55.2 and three-quarters in 1:24, before scoring the 1-1/2 length victory in 1:50.2, equaling his lifetime best. Longshots Goban and Terco Corazon (Mario Baillargeon) finished second and third, respectively.
“I think I knew (I had the win) when the sheet came out on Tuesday,” said Jamieson from the winner’s circle. “This horse, he raced in the Meadowlands Pace six days ago and didn’t get a great trip, as most of them didn’t. The winner stole the lead and the race. It was a great drive by Yannick Gingras and a great win for (trainer) Jim Mulinix with A Rocknroll Dance. But this horse is a real nice horse and he is going to be heard from in one of those big stake races here before the end of the year.”
The son of Real Desire-Ideal Treasure, who finished fifth in this year’s Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk, is owned by Sally MacDonald and Sophie MacDonald. With the win, the colt notched his fifth victory in 17 lifetime starts and lifted his career earnings to C$211,886. State Treasurer paid $2.20 to win.
In a 24-1 stunner, Fantastic Rock captured the second division of the Summertime for trainer Tony O’Sullivan and driver Chris Christoforou.
The gelding, who got away seventh, sat behind splits of :26.3 cut by Spinarama (Scott Zeron) and :55 and 1:23.3 put up by the 3-5 favorite Long Live Rock (Jody Jamieson).
At the head of the lane, Fantastic Rock was angled three-wide and rallied from way back to score the triumph by one length in a new mark of 1:51.2. Twin B Impressive (Sylvain Filion) finished second and Long Live Rock faded to third.
“The horse called Astor made a break in front of him last week and he just took us right out of the race,” said Christoforou following the victory. “I think we were 17, 18 lengths off at the half and never had a chance from there. Tonight he got to race with normal circumstances. Nobody ran in front of him so he got a good trip and he won.
“He seems to like racing off the pace,” he added. “He seems to respond that way the best. I was looking at his lines and I’ve watched him race for a while now and that seems to be the best strategy with him so that’s the way we went.”
The homebred son of Rocknroll Hanover-Fanciful Hanover is owned by Emerald Highlands Farm and W. James Sprow III. The bay, who made only one start as a rookie, notched his fourth victory in 10 lifetime starts and increased his career earnings to C$48,750. Fantastic Rock paid $50.90 to win.
The Summertime Pacing Series final is scheduled for Monday (July 30). The series is for 3-year-olds that were non-winners of two races or C$10,000 lifetime as of March 31.
Live racing returns to the Campbellville oval Saturday night with a stakes-filled program, featuring the 61st edition of the C$750,000 Maple Leaf Trot, the C$391,000 Roses Are Red Stakes and four Canadian Breeders Championship finals. First race post time is 7:10 p.m.