Toronto, ON --- Pepsi North America Cup hopeful State Treasurer was able to overcome a first turn miscue to capture his C$35,000 second round division of The Diplomat Pacing Series on Thursday evening (May 3) at Woodbine.
The Dr. Ian Moore student, who won his first leg division on April 23, is two-for-two in his 3-year-old campaign.
One Through Ten (Luc Ouellette) parked out State Treasurer into the first turn, but as they hit the first quarter in :26.4, State Treasurer broke stride. Driver Jody Jamieson was able to get his charge back pacing and dropped into the pocket.
After sitting in the three hole, Piston Broke (Sylvain Filion) advanced first-up to take the lead into the backstretch. The heavy favorite, who had a five-race win streak going into the second leg, held the front past fractions of :56 and 1:24.
Into the final turn, State Treasurer caught cover from I'm The Pied Piper (Scott Zeron), who had launched a first-over attack from fourth before the half. State Treasurer was then shown clear racetrack to win by 1-1/4 lengths in a career-best performance of 1:52. I'm The Pied Piper finished second and One Through Ten got up for third.
“I grabbed him a little bit to just start going back into the two hole,” said Jamieson. “It looked like he touched a knee from being doubled up for a step and made a break. He caught back quickly. I really didn’t think he could win after (the break in stride).
“But in the last turn, I moved him over and he felt awesome so I swung him over three-wide in the stretch and he just paced right through the wire.”
The son of Real Desire-Ideal Treasure has crafted a lifetime record of 3-2-1 in 10 starts, with $79,888 in career earnings for owners Sally and Sophie MacDonald.State Treasurer paid $9.90 to win as the second choice.
In the other Diplomat division, Arts Ideal Hanover (Luc Ouellette) delivered as the 4-5 favorite by a half-length for trainer Jimmy Takter.
NA Cup eligible Ontheclock Hanover (Jack Moiseyev) used front-end tactics to put up splits of :26.2, :55.2 and 1:23.4, but past the half, Arts Ideal Hanover (Luc Ouellette), who was sitting fourth on the rail, made a bid for the lead.
The pair of sophomores battled into the stretch before the odds-on favorite took command and scored in a new lifetime mark of 1:51.3. Retail (Rick Zeron) rallied for second and Ontheclock Hanover faded to third.
“He is a good-gaited horse and a good-mannered horse,” said Ouellette. “He had only five lifetime starts (before the second leg) so he is still a green horse. You could see by looking at his lines, he had been going a lot in the first quarters and halves. We tried it the other way tonight, and I think it worked out well.”
The lightly-raced son of American Ideal-Art's Lady Diana, who was unraced at two, has put together a 2-2-1 record in six starts this season. He has banked $33,760 to date for owners Christina Takter, Mkatz Alibfeld Sgoldband and Brixton Medical Ab. The gelding returned $3.60 to win.
Also on the 12-race program, 3-year-old pacing fillies contested a single C$35,000 second round division of the Princess Pacing Series. After winning the lone first leg division, Stage It Right (Scott Zeron) retuned to victory lane for trainer Rick Zeron.
Sent off at odds of 6-1, Stage It Right sat behind fractions of :26.2 cut by Mia Seelster (Keith Oliver) and :55.1 and 1:24.2 put up by Yagonnakissmeornot (Chris Christoforou).
Stage It Right added first-over pressure at the half before getting under the wire in a new mark of 1:52.3. Yagonnakissmeornot finished second by one length and Jet Wash (Jody Jamieson) finished third.
“She is very versatile,” said Scott Zeron. “She is so handy that as a driver you can put her in any spot you want. Tonight that was a really tough trip to come first-up into big fractions like that, but she just feels like she has no end to her.”
The daughter of Artiscape-Whenuwishuponastar, who was unraced at two, has a lifetime record of 5-2-1 in eight starts, with $65,479 in career earnings for owners Richard Lombardo and Howard Taylor. The paci