Saulsbrook Ian was a repeat winner in the Valedictory Series while first round runner-up Come On Artie stepped up for a victory in the second leg on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
The series is for three-year-olds male pacers that were non-winners of $60,000 lifetime as of Oct. 31.
Fresh off a career-best 1:52.1 score in the opening leg of the series last weekend, Saulsbrook Ian (pictured above) just missed that mark as he went right back out to take his $18,000 division in round two with Doug McNair picking up the live catch-drive.
With a handful of leavers jockeying for early position through a :26.2 opener, McNair floated Saulsbrook Ian off the gate and landed towards the back in fifth. After a :55.3 half, Saulsbrook Ian followed the cover of Call Me It (Louis-Philippe Roy) through three-quarters in 1:25.1 then rallied by that late leader down the lane to win by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:52.3. Gritty (Colin Kelly) edged out Call Me It for the runner-up honours at the end in a photo finish.
Improving to three-for-three this month while racing at Mohawk in the Kyle Fellows stable, Saulsbrook Ian paid $2.50 to win as the 1-5 favourite. Owned by Red Oak Stables of Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Betterthancheddar-Atlanta Girl gelding now boasts a dozen wins from 17 starts this year after winning two of 10 as a rookie.
Leaving from the outside post seven in the other division and caught four-wide to the first turn, driver Louis-Philippe Roy pressed on with Come On Artie, catching cover briefly and eventually clearing down the backside after a contested :26.3 opening quarter. Once in control, the popular Brett Lester trainee never looked back, setting middle splits of :56.3 and 1:25.4 through the fog en route to a two-length victory in 1:53 flat. Mufferaw Joe (Sylvain Filion) was in the early mix and re-emerged for second while Wry (McNair) followed up his series win last week with a third-place finish.
A runner-up to Saulsbrook Ian in their first round match-up, Come On Artie was sent off as the 4-5 favourite drawing into a separate division for this leg and returned $3.60 to win. After going one-for-five as a freshman, the Artspeak-Machs Affair gelding has compiled a record reading 11-4-8 from 33 starts this year for owner/breeder Diane Sylvestre of Sarnia, Ont.
The $30,000 (added) final of the Valedictory Series will be contested on the special Boxing Day afternoon program on Tuesday, Dec. 26.
(Standardbred Canada)
