Well, if you thought Foiled Again would have a walk through the park in the first Trial of the Gold Cup and Saucer, you were in good company as the aged pacer went off at odds of 3-5. Unfortunately, the race isn't won on the tote board; the race must be contested.
Well, the race was contested and when all was said and done, the $7.4 million winner was lucky to qualify for the final as the race was won by YS Lotus in a sparkling 1:51.1.
Foiled Again fired out first, Marc Campbell likely figuring everyone would respect the horse but alas this was not the case as YS Lotus decided to go for the lead. Campbell decided to play a little hard ball with YS Lotus, likely figuring he would retreat, but retreat he didn't and the two battled through a :26.2 first quarter before Foiled Again ceded the lead. At that point, the Rene Allard-trained pacer was off to the races, motoring through a :53.1 half and a 1:21.2 three quarters where he had a five length lead before finishing the mile with a :29.4 final quarter, still winning by three and a quarter lengths.
Shades of Bay finished second after racing on the outside for half a mile, followed by DGs Camme who was third with Foiled Again retreating to fourth, all securing invites to the Gold Cup and Saucer final.
You may be asking who this giant-killer is, this YS Lotus? Earlier this year YS Lotus was racing at Yonkers Raceway, last toiling in non-winners of $10,000 company before being shipped up to Prince Edward Island. Once there, the horse has become quite a different pacer, winning his elimination and final of the Governor's Plate at Summerside Raceway, winning the final there in 1:51.4. Then, fresh of those victories he was invited and competed in the Paul Bunyon Invitational Pace, the biggest race of the year at Bangor Raceway where he suffered a horrible trip, finishing dead last. He shook defeat off, winning a Preferred pace at Charlottetown last week in a 'pedestrian' 1:52.4. Clearly this five year old son of If I Can Dream finds the Maritimes to his liking.
As for Foiled Again? Obviously, the thirteen year old is not the horse he once was but was Campbell's strategy based on the assumption the others in the race would respect the aged veteran and was caught off guard, thus happy to advance and apply new strategy next week, or is it a sign father time is catching up?
We will see next week. The second trial is set for Monday with the final Saturday night at 11:00pm.
Meanwhile, at Northfield Park, Betting Line survived a judges inquiry for a small break he made in the final turn and won the Carl Milstein Memorial in 1;51. The filly Pure Country managed to eek out a second place finish over Magnum J.
I thought yesterday I would be putting an end to my Share The Delight fandom, but it lives on for another day as IB Coyote, a STD filly, won her elimination of the Vincent Delaney Memorial Filly Stake in 2:04.9 and returns to race today in the €10,000 final at Portmarnock Raceway. She will have a tough time in the final as the first elimination winner Rhyds Mystiquie crossed the wire first in 2:02. With the elimination winners and the six fastest runner ups making the final, IB Coyote will have to pick it up a step to be competitive today.
Update: IB Coyote, a Share The Delight 2yo filly, driven by New Zealand Driver Dexter Dunn won the Vincent Delaney Filly Stake final in 2:02.8 at Portmarnock Raceway in Ireland. Who knows, Share The Delight may have some success as a stallion overseas yet.
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