Zeron guided both I'm The Pied Piper and Stage It Right to victory lane in their respective finals.
I'm The Pied Piper, who boasted four consecutive second-place efforts coming into Saturday night, got the monkey off his back as he posted the 10-1 upset for Zeron in The Diplomat final.
Early speed occurred in the rich final as Retail (Anthony MacDonald) blasted to command well before the opening panel in 26. Ontheclock Hanover (Jack Moiseyev) was still on the outside with Arts Ideal Hanover (Luc Ouellette) in the pocket.
Heading towards the half, MacDonald continued to set the pace as Ontheclock Hanover failed to reach the front and was parked on the outside past the half in a quick 54.1.
This allowed post time favorite, State Treasurer (Randy Waples), to be positioned second-over around the final turn as Retail passed three-quarters in a speedy 1:21.4.
Turning for home, Retail was still in command, but the backfield was within striking distance. State Treasurer poked a nose in front, but Zeron and I'm The Pied Piper were gaining with every stride from the backfield.
In deep stretch, State Treasurer gave way as I'm The Pied Piper struck the front in the final strides to score the victory by a nose over State Treasurer in 1:50.3. Piston Broke (Sylvain Filion) came from off the pace to finish third, beaten just a neck.
“This horse has a ton of speed,” Zeron said after the win. “His last few races haven’t been in his favour because he’s faced some tough trips with no luck. Tonight was a different story. Everything couldn’t have worked out any better tonight, especially when I seen three-quarters in 1:21.4. He’s terrific to race from off the pace and he beat some pretty good horses in there.”
Trained by Tony O’Sullivan, I'm The Pied Piper enjoyed his largest payday as his earnings increased to $96,927 for owners Richard and Joanne Young. He now has a record of 3-6-0 from 10 starts in his career. He paid $23.60 for the win.
Earlier on the card, Zeron guided Stage It Right to victory lane in the $75,000 Princess Series final.
The regally-bred daughter of Artiscape-Whenuwishuponastar captured both preliminary legs before enjoying her biggest payday of her young career in Saturday’s rich event.
With just a six sophomore filly pacers lining up behind the starting gate, Yagonnakissmeornot (Chris Christoforou) found the front in the early going and led her rivals past the opening panel in a moderate 29. Stage It Right was in the two-hole with My Gal Mattie (Peter Core) sitting third. Post time favorite, Jet Wash, made a costly break in stride as the race got underway.
Heading towards the half, Yagonnakissmeornot and Christoforou faced no challengers and was able to steal a:29.4 second quarter as Yagonnakissmeornot reached the half in 58.4.
As Yagonnakissmeornot marched past three-quarters in 1:26.4, Stage It Right was already out and on the move for Zeron.
Zeron urged his charge past the tempo-setter and held off all challengers to stop the timer in 1:54.2. Yagonnakissmeornot stayed for second, over Cooking The Books (Jack Moiseyev).
“She’s a sweetheart to drive,” Zeron said following the win. “The slow fractions didn’t bother me one bit because my filly has very quick speed for a piece and can explode off a helmet. She was very handy tonight and I didn’t need to kick the ear plugs.”
Zeron’s father, Rick, trains the six-time winner for Richard Lombardo and Howard Taylor. Unraced as a freshman, the lightly-raced miss now boasts a record of 6-2-1 from nine starts. The bay lifted her career earnings to $102.400 as she paid $5.40 to win.