San Pail Defends MLT Title; Tug River Princess, Buck I St Pat Victorious

San Pail, driven by Randy Waples, took no prisoners during a stakes-filled Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack, wiring a star-studded cast

in the $772,000 Maple Leaf Trot.

Not only did San Pail become the first horse since the incomparable Mr Muscleman in 2004-05 to win back-to-back editions of the Maple Leaf Trot, but he also set a stakes record of 1:51.3, eclipsing Arch Madness’s mark of 1:52 in 2008.

At the finish of one of North America’s premier trotting classics, San Pail proved the best by three lengths over Slave Dream (Sylvain Filion), with Reven Damour (Fredrik Larsson) third. However, Slave Dream was disqualified for a lapped on the break at the wire and placed third, with Reven Damour elevated to second.

The six year-old gelded son of San Pellegrino also established the fastest half-mile mark in Mohawk history, a blazing :54.2, after blasting from the four-hole, out-duelling two others for the lead while getting the opening quarter in :26.2.

Despite comfortably winning his elimination last week, San Pail went postward the 3-1 third choice, behind 6-5 favourite Lucky Jim and 2-1 Enough Talk. Lucky Jim made a mild bid around the far turn before finishing fourth, while Enough Talk, tucked in third along the rail for most of the trip, made a break turning for home and wound up 10th and last.

"It always feels good to win this race," said Waples. "It’s so tough to get a horse good enough to compete in this race. And then it’s so tough to get a good post position, do good in the elimination, then race well in the final. I can’t say enough about [trainer] Rod Hughes. He just had the horse unbelievably good. It’s great.

"I wanted to control my own destiny. I know some people don’t think he’s quite as good as some of the other horses. But I just wanted to take my shot and go from there, because I do believe he is one of the best ones. He’s always a better horse when he gets to the front because he relaxes. It just couldn’t have worked out better."

Added trainer and co-owner Rodney Hughes of Dunsford, ON, "I’m so happy with that horse tonight. He’s just awesome. He’s what you dream of. To do this twice is just unbelievable. I knew we had lots of support here tonight. I was just hoping we had the horse to back it up.

"I thought he’d be better [than last week]. He put in a really nice week for us at home. We worked a little harder on him and tried to have him that much better and he was. This is amazing."

San Pail picked up a pot of $386,000 for his 30th lifetime win, pushing his career bankroll to over $1.6 million for Hughes and partner Glenn Van Camp of Port Perry, ON.

San Pail paid $8, $4.50 and $4, combining with Reven Damour ($6.20, $4.10) for a $56.60 (4-6) exactor. A 4-6-5 (Slave Dream, $9.70 to show) triactor was worth $863.90, while a $1 Superfecta [4-6-5-3 (Lucky Jim)] returned $1,582.50.

Buck I St Pat Conquers Armbro Flight Foes

Buck I St Pat delivered as expected in the $376,000 Armbro Flight Stakes for aged trotting mares at Mohawk Racetrack Saturday night.

The race was contested despite a lengthy power outage, which occurred just prior to the race.

The seven-year-old daughter of Jailhouse Jesse-Name It Something left from Post 1 for driver Tim Tetrick and was positioned fourth through the opening quarter of :26.3 produced by Autumn Escapade and driver David Miller.

Autumn Escapade and Miller controlled the pace through the half in :55 and three quarters in 1:23.2, but Buck I St Pat and Tetrick came first-over along the final turn and drove away on her rivals down the stretch to win convincingly in 1:52, which lowered Peaceful Way's track and Canadian record (shared by Spare Time Rozie and Rose Run Keepsake) for aged trotting mares by one-fifth of a second. Windsong Soprano (Steve Condren) finished second and Autumn Escpade was third.

Buck I St Pat paid $3.20 to win for the fourth time in nine starts this year. With the victory, Buck I St Pat boosted her 2010 earnings to $315,455 and career earnings to $1,736,855. She is trained by Ron Burke for owners Howard Taylor, Edwin Gold, Abraham Basen and Ron Fuller.

Tug River Princess Adorned With Red Roses

Tug River Princess uncorked a furious final-quarter rally to post a mild upset in the $376,000 Roses Are Red Stakes for older pacing mares on Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack.

The five-year-old daughter of Badlands Hanover–Aucryifiwanto, with Jody Jamieson in the driver’s seat, sat off the pace early and watched favourite Dreamfair Eternal (Randy Waples) work her way to command through an opening half in :54.2.

Dreamfair Eternal cruised past three-quarters in 1:22.1 and built up a sizeable lead as the field turned for home. At that point, Jamieson sent his mare three-wide and set sail after the pacesetter.

In a matter of strides, Tug River Princess inhaled Dreamfair Eternal and roared past for the going-away win, equaling her mark of 1:50. Dreamfair Eternal held second and it was far back to Ginger And Fred (Tim Tetrick), who won a close battle for third with A Ps Money Maker (Rick Zeron).

Tug River Princess returned $6.30 to win while notching her fourth victory in 12 starts this season for the Let It Ride Stables Inc., Robert Cooper Stables LLC and Jerry Silva. Trained by Darren McCall when in Canada, Tug River Princess watched her bankroll swell to $275,555 this year and just over $1,625,000 lifetime with the win.

Bigtime Ball Dominates Open Pacers

Coming off a week’s rest after his victory in the Master Series at Georgian Down on July 10, Bigtime Ball trounced his Open Pace rivals in the $42,000 event featured on Saturday night’s Maple Leaf Trot undercard at Mohawk Racetrack.

Bigtime Ball watched as Major Hottie (Mark MacDonald) sprinted to the opening quarter in :25.3 while he settled in behind. Driver Paul MacDonell pulled the pocket and sent the Gord Irwin pupil to the lead down the backstretch and he carved out the remaining splits of :54.1 and 1:22.1 en route to a 1:50 triumph. Shady Cam (Sylvain Filion) closed well for second finishing over a length behind and Anderlecht (Jody Jamieson) rounded out the top three.

Bigtime Ball returned $3.60 to win as the popular choice. The six-year-old gelded son of Presidential Ball-Keystone Trinidad has won seven times in 13 outings this year banking $229,000 for the Irwin Stables of Cobourg, ON. The victory was his 34th overall and boosted his career earnings to $1,330,173.

For recaps and replays of tonight's Canadian Breeders Championship finals for three-year-olds, click here.

To view Saturday's results, click here.

(With files from WEG)