If you like freshmen pacers and trotters, then you’ll love what the Score has in store for you on Saturday
evening.
Coverage of the Fall Final Four championships will be broadcast nationally on Saturday evening from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. from Woodbine Racetrack. Chad Rozema, Dawn Lupul and Renee Kierans will provide colour commentary throughout the two-hour program.
Here’s the order in which the finals will be presented:
The $502,000 Goldsmith Maid Final for trotting fillies will kick off the Grand Slam of stakes in Race 5. Crys Dream established a new track record of 1:55.1 in last week’s elimination, and her connections opted to select Post 4 for the daughter of Taurus Dream-Crystas Image in the final. Luc Ouellette will do the driving for trainer Henrik Hollsten.
The Three Diamonds Final for pacing fillies, which is carded as Race 6, features a powerful 1-2 punch from the stable of trainer Casie Coleman plus a white-hot youngster from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob McIntosh.
Coleman’s camp sends out the top two finishers from this year’s Shes A Great Lady Stake, Idyllic and Pretty Katherine. Idyllic, who was third in the final of this year’s Breeders Crown at Pocono Downs, turned in a solid qualifier on October 29 in preparation for her return to the races while Pretty Katherine, who last raced in the Champlain Stakes on September 11, turned in a trio of qualifiers in October as she gets set to return to action.
McIntosh’s hopes of winning the Three Diamonds will rest on Strike An Attitude, who totes a two-race winning streak into her assignment. She was a 1:51.2 winner in a division of the Bluegrass Stake at The Red Mile on October 15, and returned one week later to win her division of the International Stallion Stake in 1:52.2.
The $539,000 Valley Victory Finalfor trotting colts and geldings is carded as Race 7, and it features the nation’s fastest freshman trotting colt of all time, Blue Porsche. The speedy son of Glidemaster, who races for the dynamic duo of trainer Blair Burgess and driver Trevor Ritchie, upset Pastor Stephen in last week’s elimination. Burgess will send out three others in the final – For You Almostfree, Can Anyone Explain and Pegasus Blue Chip.
The $709,000 Governor’s Cup Final for colt and gelding pacers will go postward as Race 8, and if figures to be one of the best battles of the night.
This year’s Breeders Crown champ Big Jim will square off with the likes of last week’s elimination winner Shadyshark Hanover. The elimination score earned that colt’s connections the opportunity to select a post position, and they opted for Post 3. Big Jim, who accepted a bye and went directly into the final, went into the open draw and has landed Post 9.
Saturday night will also feature the $100,000 Gold Cup Invitational Pace, which will feature some of the top older pacers in North America. That contest will go to post for Race 9.
To view preliminary program pages for Saturday’s Fall Final Four championships, click here.