Tuscan Prince led all the way to pick up his second Ontario Sires Stakes victory of his sophomore campaign and match his lifetime mark of 1:52.3 during Friday's fourth Gold Series leg for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings hosted by Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Driven by Louis-Philippe Roy in the first of two $100,000+ divisions, Tuscan Prince carved out fractions of :28.1, :57.2 and 1:24.3 then held off the late pocket-popping Hasty Bid (James MacDonald) by three-quarters of a length while divisional point leader and 3-5 favourite Ghostly Casper (Sylvain Filion) advanced first-over to show.
Rebounding from a miscue in the last Gold event at Grand River Raceway a week and a half ago, the Kadabra-Tosca gelding paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
Luc Blais trains Tuscan Prince, who was a first leg winner on May 29 at Mohawk and is now three-for-nine with $163,294 earned this year for owner Determination of Montreal, Que.
Following a summer that has been mired by miscues including his last start in the Hambletonian on Aug. 5 at The Meadowlands, Osceola got back on track with a 1:53.3 winning effort in the other Gold division.
Osceola found a hole in fourth position through the first turn for driver Doug McNair while The Hazelton (Bob McClure) took over the lead from Snowpiercer (James MacDonald) after a :27.1 opening quarter. As The Hazelton led the field through a :56 half and opened up five lengths on the way to three-quarters in 1:24.4, Osceola moved underway and tried to reel in his runaway rival. He was within two lengths of the leader turning for home and continued to gain ground through the stretch, eventually defeating The Hazelton by 2-1/4 lengths at the end with a :27.4 final frame. Musical Ride (Sylvain Filion) rounded out the top three.
With hopples added, Osceola returned to the winning form that he showed when starting his sophomore campaign with a sweep of the SBOA Stakes elimination and final followed by a runner-up finish to Tuscan Prince in the provincial program. He is now three-for-eight with earnings of $183,452 this season.
Trainer Gregg McNair co-owns the Muscle Mass-Armbro Exquisite colt with breeder Willow Oak Ranch of Rogersville, Tennessee and partner Paul Hawman of Collingwood, Ont.
Sent postward as the 1-5 favourite, he paid $2.60 to win.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.