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Grand Circuit stakes wrapped up on Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack with the spotlight on two and three-year-old pacers in the Champlain and Simcoe Stakes.


Favourite Dancin Hill ($3.80) and driver Scott Zeron opened the stakes action with a career-best 1:50.1 victory in the first of two $106,038 divisions of the Simcoe for three-year-old pacers.


The 4-5 bettors' choice from the Tony Alagna stable found a spot along the pylons in fourth early on and waited until the half-mile mark to make his move. Meanwhile, Carracci Hanover (James MacDonald) established the early lead with outsider On Golden Ponder (Randy Waples) settling into the pocket through a :27.3 opening panel. Western Vintage (Marcus Johansson) swept from third to first down the backstretch and reached the half in :55 and then three-quarters in 1:22.3 while Dancin Hill advanced first over. Dancin Hill took over the lead down the stretch and drew two and a half lengths clear with Winds Of Change (Chris Christoforou) rallying off cover for second and edging out Carracci Hanover.


Following the race, Alagna noted that the Rocknroll Hanover-Beyonce Blue Chip colt has been on the upswing since finishing fifth by three-quarters of a length in the $225,000 New Jersey Classic on Aug. 3 at The Meadowlands.


"He had an issue with his right hip and we've been working on that. He was getting real bad muscle spasms and we've had a lot of chiropractic work on him and he's finally starting to come around," explained Alagna. "He was actually running over horses to be fifth in the Jersey final. I thought if he shook loose he'd have won the Jersey Classic that day. It showed us that he was coming around and since then he's showed up a nice string of races.


"I was very happy with him [tonight]. I felt good at the head of the lane because I know he always kicks home hard and Scott said he was super."


Owned and bred by Tom Hill of Lancashire, Great Britain, Dancin Hill went two-for-four as a freshman and now has three wins in 12 sophomore starts and more than $133,000 in career earnings.


Dancin Hill is expected to head to Lexington, Kentucky tomorrow.


Heavy favourite Lyons Levi Lewis and driver Sylvain Filion won the first $123,120 Champlain Stakes division for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings in a new mark of 1:52.1.


The race was marred by an incident early on when Sports Bettor fell behind the gate from post three tossing James MacDonald from the sulky. The race proceeded with MacDonald making his way to the safety of the infield while Sports Bettor ran loose towards the paddock before being corralled.


Meanwhile, American Legend (Chris Christoforou) sprinted to the lead from the outside post nine over Some Power (Scott Zeron) into a :26.4 opening quarter before the quick-leaving Sporting The Look (Jody Jamieson) cleared. Filion then rolled Lyons Levi Lewis to the top after getting away fourth and hit the half-mile mark in :55.1. They continued to lead past three-quarters in 1:23.2 and down the stretch while Thinkofagameplan (Randy Waples) advanced into the pocket spot and chased him home one length behind in second. Some Power finished third.


"Leaving the gate, I just didn't want to get caught up in the speed duel," said Filion of his strategy as the race unfolded. "I let them settle and took the lead down the backside so I could control the pace."


Lyons Levi Lewis paid $2.70 to win as the 1-5 favourite. The Well Said-Tongue In Cheek colt entered Saturday's race off three runner-up efforts in stakes action, including a second-place finish to undefeated Artspeak in last weekend's $667,000 Metro Pace.


"He raced huge last week," noted Filion. "He sat in the three-hole and got shuffled back and he came back and fought hard to finish second. I thought he was just amazing last week. This week he was the heavy favourite so I raced him on the front end, but I think his best game is off a helmet.