ICYMI: September 23-24

TORONTO – By Matthew Lomon

Super Sprinter

What does Damon’s Mound have in common with Atlanta Braves Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr.? They’re both at their best sprinting on dirt.

That was the case again this past Saturday for the 3-year-old colt, who battled through sloppy track conditions to take home the $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes (G2) at Parx Racing. The second graded stakes win of Damon’s Mound career was his fourth overall victory, which unsurprisingly, have all come in dirt sprints.

Oddsmakers and bettors alike were well aware of the Florida-bred’s affinity for dirt dashes, as evidenced by the 9-5 closing odds attached to his name.

For the win, Damon’s Mound paid $5.60.

Crushing the Game

It seems we have a budding superstar on our hands in California-bred Ceiling Crusher.

The 3-year-old filly put on a clinic in Saturday’s $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx, leading gate-to-wire to capture her first Grade 1 victory. Winning isn’t a new feeling for the Doug O’Neill trainee. In fact, she must be pretty used to it by now. Last weekend’s win was the sixth in seven career starts for Ceiling Crusher, pushing her overall line to a brilliant 6-0-1.

What makes the story even better is that she wasn’t the favourite heading into the race. That title belonged to Pretty Mischievous, who closed at 2-1, and finished 1 ½ lengths behind the winner.

Handicappers who rode with the rising star were rewarded with an $8.60 win payout.

Where Were you When…

Rarely does a race led by a 4-5 favourite produce the kind of heart-pounding, jaw-dropping action that has onlookers questioning if what they’re seeing is real.

This year’s running of the Mohawk Million was one of those events.

All the talk leading up to the headliner event on Mohawk’s calendar was centred around 2-year-old trotter T C I, and for good reason. However, nobody could have foreseen the race going the way it did. The young phenom, who earned a golden ticket into the contest by winning the William Wellwood Memorial, broke stride early and fell 15 lengths behind the leader.

Still, the seemingly insurmountable setback wasn’t enough to prevent the Ron Burke pilot from climbing back to a familiar position at the front of the pack. The legendary performance pushed T C I’s career winnings over $1.2 million and improved his line to 9-0-1.

Unfortunately, theatrics don’t raise the payout, but T C I backers, and fans of the sport, got more than their money’s worth at Mohawk on Saturday night.

Bump ‘N’ Run

It wasn’t a smooth ride for Zippy Gizmo in the $100,000 Bull Page Stakes at Woodbine, but that didn’t prevent him from getting the job done.

Sunday’s victory makes that two in a row for the 2-year-old colt, who is starting to build some momentum as his young career begins to take shape. He entered the six-horse affair with the third-lowest odds (7-2) behind favourite Meko Makee (5-2), who ended up finishing second-last, and Summer Commander (3-1), who crossed the line third.

The Kevin Attard-trainee wound up out-duelling Steve Attard-trainee Brave Dancer (4-1) to reward his backers with a solid $9.10.

Cara’s Time to Shine

You know the old cliché, ‘age is just a number?’ The same idea also applies to analyzing odds – just ask Cara’s Time.

Listed as the field of five’s longest shot in the $125,000 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes, the 2-year-old filly proved that odds are just a number. At 22-1, nobody expected much out of the Mitchell Friedman-trainee, who was coming off a disappointing fifth-place finish in her last run on August 27.

But this time around, Cara’s Time had a different look on her face, literally. Her connections decided to make an equipment change, removing the blinkers or Sunday’s affair. The move paid dividends for both the connections and bettors alike, who won $68,750 and $47, respectively.

Let this be a lesson that small changes can have a major impact on performance.