Keep On Truckin, a two-year-old son of Society’s Chairman, looks to make his stakes debut a winning one in the $125,000 Clarendon Stakes, one of two ($100,000 Duchess) added-money tilts on Saturday afternoon’s card of racing at Woodbine.
Bred by Tim Meeuse and Arika Everatt-Meeuse, the Ontario-bred turned plenty of heads in his career bow on July 7 at the Toronto oval.
Sent off as the 3-5 mutuel favourite, Keep On Truckin was in high gear early, holding a half-length advantage at the three-sixteenths call of the five-furlong main track race. The chestnut was 2 ½-lenghts on top at the three-eighths mark, increasing his advantage to 6 ½-lengths at the stretch call.
At the wire, the Catherine Day Phillips trainee was 11 ¾-lengths clear of his closest rival.
“He was very, very special in his debut,” praised Day Phillips, who is 13 wins shy of 300 for her career. “He ran better than we had hoped. We expected him to run well, but he certainly ran to that and better.”
Owned by George P. Ledson (now retired from his company Cavalier Transport), along with his son Brian Ledson, and David Anderson of Anderson Farms Ontario Inc., the gelding has worked impressively since his milestone score.
On July 20, Keep On Truckin took to the Woodbine Tapeta for a four-furlong work in :51-flat. One week later, he traveled five panels in :59.40.
Day Phillips is looking forward to seeing her young up-and-comer go after his second straight win.
“Everything he’s done, he’s been very sensible about it and it’s come to him very easily,” said the multiple graded stakes winning conditioner, whose top horses include A Bit O’Gold, Jambalaya, Mr Havercamp, Dixie Moon and Geraint. “He’s breezed as well as we’ve asked him to. We haven’t put a lot of pressure on him breezing, but he did whatever we asked of him. He just seems to have a very good mind for whatever is put in front of him.”
Keep On Truckin, who will go a half-furlong further than he did in his first effort, takes on four rivals in the Clarendon.
“He was never actually speed oriented,” offered Day Phillips. “He just did what he had to do. He came back and breezed very easily when asked. Then he had a faster breeze when asked, so he seems to be doing exactly what we ask of him, which is nice. Hopefully, he keeps on truckin.’”
Trainer Mark Casse, who sends out Meyer, has six Clarendon crowns to his name. The Hall of Fame conditioner has also won three of the past four runnings of the race.
Last year, Conrad Farms’ Muskoka Wonder, bred by the late William D. Graham, and trained by Casse, won the Clarendon by 1 ½-lengths in a time of 1:04.47.
The Clarendon is scheduled as the third of 10 races on Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. program. The Duchess, a seven-furlong sprint for three-year-old fillies, is slated as race seven.
Fans can watch and wager on all the action via www.HPIbet.com.
$125,000 CLARENDON STAKES
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Gelato Amore – Jesse Campbell – Ricky Griffith
2 – Professor Tally – Alan Garcia – John Ross
3 – Forester’s Fortune – Omar Moreno – Laurie Silvera
4 – Keep On Truckin – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Catherine Day Phillips
5 – Meyer – Eurico Rosa Da Silva – Mark Casse
$100,000 DUCHESS STAKES
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Intanga Rose – Luis Contreras – Sid Attard
2 – Ciuri – Eurico Rosa Da Silva – Robert Tiller
3 – Winandyouringin – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
4 – Fat N Bitter – Kazushi Kimura – Jamie Attard
5 – Double Medal – Justin Stein – Michael De Paulo
6 – Si Si Tequila – Gary Boulanger – Mark Casse
7 – La Feve – Rafael Hernandez – Graham Motion
8 – Wings of Dawn – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse
9 – Painting – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Josie Carroll
10 – Sav – Jesse Campbell – Ricky Griffith
11 – Charmaine’s Mia – Steven Bahen – Michael McDonald
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