Mister Herbie hauled down Chapter Seven to capture the
61st edition of the $750,000 Maple Leaf Trot in a Canadian record 1:50.4 on
Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack for the O'Brien Award winning
driver-trainer combination of Jody Jamieson and Jeff Gillis.
Jamieson settled the four-year-old Here Comes
Herbie-Independent Lassie gelding away sixth from
post eight while outsider Tall Cotton and Randy
Waples fired to command and reached the first
quarter mark in :27-seconds. Meanwhile, Winning
Mister, driven by Sylvain Filion, made a costly
miscue off the gate taking himself out of contention.
Down the backstretch, Rick Zeron pulled Windsong
Geant from the pocket and blew by the early
speedster with third place Chapter Seven and Tim
Tetrick hot on their heels. Chapter Seven cleared to
the lead at the :54.4 half-mile mark and opened up
two lengths on the field.
As the popular Chapter Seven raced to
three-quarters in a track record 1:22.3, Daylon
Magician and Jack Moiseyev advanced first up from
fourth with Hot Shot Blue Chip, driven by Paul
MacDonell, following his cover and
Mister Herbie moving third over.
Jamieson sent Mister Herbie wide around the final
turn and collared Chapter Seven down the lane.
Chapter Seven finished three-quarters of a length
behind in second while 71-1 longshot Hot Shot Blue
Chip rallied off cover to show.
Mister Herbie's winning time
shaved two-fifths of a
second off the Canadian
record for aged trotters on
a mile track, which was set
by Mr Muscleman in 2005 and
equalled by Enough Talk, San
Pail and Daylon Magician.
"I think [Tim Tetrick
with Chapter Seven] was
trying to be the last one to
the lead and my horse just
raced an unbelievable trip
once again in his career,"
commented Jamieson after the
victory. "Every time in
these big races he just
seems to come up with an
extra amazing effort."
Mister Herbie paid $18.50
to win as the 8-1 third
choice. He is bred by
Warrawee Farm of Rockwood,
Ont. and owned by trainer
Jeff Gillis of Hillsburgh,
Ont. and Gerald Stay of
Buffalo, New York (as J
Gillis G Stay), along with
Mac Nichol of Burlington,
Ont.
"Jeff asked me before,
'Are you confident or
hopeful, what are you
feeling?' And I said I'm
confident in my horse and
I'm hopeful I get a good
trip, and third over isn't
the worst place in the
world," said Jamieson. "I
was just hoping my cover was
going to take me there and
they took me as far as I
needed to go evidently.
"Tonight is Mister
Herbie's night," he added.
"It was just an amazing
experience and we're
enjoying the ride."
Jamieson, Gillis, Nichol
and Stay also celebrated a
1:54.3 victory with
Hambletonian eligible Knows
Nothing in one of four
Canadian Breeders
Champsionships featured
on the undercard.
