Friday's harness racing card featured seven $12,857 divisions with last year's Lampman Cup winning driver Sylvain Filion scoring a stakes double while Chris Christoforou collected the most trophies on the night winning three divisions.
Filion and King Richard ($4.20) kicked off the card with a dominant wire-to-wire victory from the outside post eight for trainer Linda Maine, who shares ownership with the gelding's breeder, Richard Johnson. The favoured son of Royal Mattjesty carved out fractions of :27.1, :56.4, and 1:25 en route to the career-best 1:52 triumph while first over Ontario Success (Christoforou) followed three lengths behind and Cadillac Phil (Jack Moiseyev) rounded out the top three finishers. King Richard is now four-for-five in his career.
Favourite Island Jet ($4.90) swept from fourth to first after opening panels of :26.2 and :55.1 in the following division and never looked back with Scott Zeron aboard. He cruised past three-quarters in 1:23.4 and fought off the pylon-skimming Southwind Amazon (Doug McNair) down the lane to win by three-quarters of a length, equalling his lifetime mark of 1:52.2. Thorn In Your Side (Jody Jamieson) finished third. The Jeremes Jet colt, who notched his second win in eight seasonal starts, is trained by Cal Campbell and owned by breeder Rick Howles, along with Geoffrey and Mary Howles.
In the third division, Rude Boy (Billy Davis Jr.) led the field through fractions of :26.2, :56, and 1:23.4 before the popular first over attacker Dull Roar (Jamieson) wore him down, but Panongahela ($15.40) unleashed a :26.1 final kicker to sweep by from off cover in the stretch. Christoforou worked out the winning trip for the David Menary trainee, who stopped the clock in a career-best 1:51.3 at odds of 6-1. Dull Roar settled for second two lengths behind while Just Henry (Scott Zeron) came in third. Peter Pan Stables's homebred No Pan Intended gelding was a third-place finisher in the Grassroots Championship at two and earned his first sophomore win in four starts.
Christoforou posted back-to-back OSS wins with the upset-minded Stonebridge Adam ($24.50) capturing the following division in 1:53 flat for trainer Gary Kingshott, who co-owns with Greg Kingshott, Shannon Bennett, and Terence Molony. After getting away mid-pack, the Stonebridge Regal colt rallied three-wide past the third quarter mark and surged home for the one and three-quarter length score over Nitesicantremember (Randy Waples) and Keystone Camaro (Phil Hudon) as pacesetter Tempo Seelser (:26.4, :55.4, 1:24.1) faded to seventh. After going winless in six tries as a freshman, Stonebridge Adam has earned three victories in 10 starts this year.
Even-money favourite Burning Shore ($4) gave sire No Pan Intended a second stakes victory on the card as he held off the pocket-pulling Mach Set Go (Filion) by a neck in 1:53.2. Mike Saftic rated the Millar Farms homebred through panels of :27, :57 and 1:26.1 before sealing the deal with a :27.1 final frame. Santanna One (Jamieson) finished nearly three lengths behind after a first over journey. The Eric Adams trainee is now four-for-nine in his sophomore year after an 0-for-five freshman campaign.
Sylvain later made his second trip to victory lane with Primeride ($14.10) rallying home from well off-the-pace for a mild 6-1 upset in 1:52. Another son of Stonebridge Regal, Primeride unleashed :26.4 final quarter speed to reel in the pacesetting Ok Fabulous (Yves Filion), who had built up a seven-length advantage through fractions of :26.4, :55, and 1:23. The Luc Blais trainee prevailed by half a length over the quick-closing Russo Seelster (Christoforou) while Ok Fabulous faded to third nearly four lengths behind. Failing to find the winner's circle in seven attempts last season, Primeride has now earned two victories from eight sophomore starts. Blais bred and co-owns the winner (as Les Ecuries Luc Blais Inc.) with Eric Gareau.
Driven by Christoforou, Icr Racing's Champagne Phil ($6.50) closed out the OSS action with his first win of the year in five starts. The son of Shanghai Phil made his move after a :27.1 opening panel, rushing up three-wide to take command at the :55.3 half. The Ken Oliver trainee turned back favourite The Real One (Denis St. Pierre) past the 1:24 third quarter station and cruised home for the one length victory in a career-best 1:52.4 clocking. Chosen Hombre (Jamieson) closed on the far outside for second-place honours while a locked-and-loaded Trys Little Prince (Baillargeon) held onto third.