Buckeye One wins Battle

Buckeye One took advantage of wicked early fractions and swooped into the lead on the final turn and went on to capture the $125,000 Battle Of Lake Erie in 1:51.2 at Northfield Park Saturday night. Ponder also rallied late to be second, just over a length behind the winner.

Rebleman (Brett Miller) and Spirit Of A Shark (Greg Grismore) went head to head to the opning quarter in :26.2. Spirit Of A Shark went on the lead around the second turn and was to the half in :54, but Dr. No and Aaron Merriman swept into the lead and drew away down the backstretch by three lengths, reaching the three quarters in 1:21.4.

But in the final turn Dr. No tired and the field started to catch up. At the top of the lane Buckeye One and Danel Clements tipped three wide off the cover of Maltese Artist and flashed into the lead. Ponder and Dave Palone followed, then ducked to the inside to finish second.

Buckeye One, who went off at odds of 31-1, needed only a :29.3 final panel to ring up the victory, his fifth in 18 starts this year. The 5-year-old Park Place gelding is owned by Ian Fromowitz and John Fielding and trained by Brett Robinson. He finished fourth in last year’s race—which also went in 1:51.2—and came into this year’s edition off a second-place finish in the Molson final last week at Western Fair in London, Ont. With ther win his lifetime earnings jump to $435,405.

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