Popular two-year-old trotting colts Prestidigitator and Heres The Magic didn't mind a little rain as they took to the track to compete in a pair of $40,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold eliminations on Friday evening at Flamboro Downs
.
Prestidigitator made his OSS debut a winning one in the first elimination as he built up an insurmountable lead early on and cruised to victory in 2:00.1 over the 'good' surface, rated two second slow.
With Sylvain Filion in the bike, the son of Kadabra-Shesa Priority took control of the field from Post 3. He quickly opened up a six and a half length lead on his foes as he rolled by the first quarter in :29.2, and pushed that margin to 11 lengths by the half in :59.2.
The gap back to Keystone Orion (Dave Boughton) began to dwindle though as Prestidigitator headed past the next marker in 1:29.4, and was down to about two and a half lengths entering the final turn. Keystone Orion gave a final push from the two-hole in deep stretch to narrow the winning margin to just over one length. No Less Than Magic (Scott Zeron) followed four and three-quarter lengths behind. Midfield Magic (Doug Brown) also advanced to the final with his fourth place effort.
Prestidigitator paid $2.10 to win. The bay colt now has two wins and two seconds in five lifetime starts with nearly $100,000 banked for trainer Dustin Jones and owner Ecurie Synergie of Montreal, Que.
The $120,000 Harrisburg Sale purchase was a fourth place finisher, two and a half lengths behind divisional leader The Game Plan, in his last start in the William Wellwood Memorial on Sept. 17 at Mohawk and was a runner-up in the Champlain Stakes earlier in September.
In the second elimination, Heres The Magic rallied home off cover to wear down pacesetter The Northern Dude for the 2:01 win.
The Northern Dude (Trevor Henry) took control of the field from the inside starting spot while Heres The Magic (Scott Zeron) settled into fifth place at the rail once the early breakers had taken themselves out of contention.
The Northern Dude led the way to the first quarter in :28.3 and the half in :59.1, at which point Dalglish (James MacDonald) attempted a first over move from third before breaking stride. Instead, Warrawee Nimby (Sylvain Filion) moved into the first over position and advanced on the outside with Heres The Magic following his cover to three-quarters in 1:30.
Zeron angled Heres The Magic wide around the final turn and the fan favourite blew by his inside rivals in deep stretch for the victory. Warrawee Nimby finished three-quarters of a length behind with The Northern Dude one and three-quarter lengths back in third. Yackety Yak (Blair Burgess) finished fourth.
Heres The Magic paid $4.70 to win. The homebred son of Kadabra-Blackberry Hanover is trained by Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman for owners David McDuffee and Herb Liverman of Florida.
Heres The Magic won his first career start in a Gold elimination at Kawartha Downs on July 7 and has since picked up cheques in most of his OSS outings. Following a fifth place finish in the Champlain and a disappointing seventh showing the Wellwood, the colt returned to the OSS ranks tonight to record his second win in 10 outings. His earnings are also approaching the $100,000 mark.
Here is a look at the field for next week's $130,000 Gold Final:
1. Midfield Magic
2. Keystone Orion
3. Prestidigitator
4. The Northern Dude
5. Warrawee Nimby
6. Yackety Yak
7. Heres The Magic
8. No Less Than Magic
AE1. Victim Of Changes
AE2. On Stride
AE3. Summer Indian
For results from Friday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Friday Results - Flamboro Downs.