Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Ponder Captures $831,000 Canadian Pacing Derby

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Trainer Bob McIntosh’s dream season just keeps rolling. Ponder surged off cover in the stretch to win this evening’s $831,000 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk. With regular driver Jack Moiseyev in tow, the four-year-old son of The Panderosa was situated perfectly in the third-over slot throughout the mile. In the stretch, it appeared as though Arts Chip might be on his way to CPD honours, but Moiseyev had other ideas. Ponder exploded with pace and collared the leader in the final strides to post a narrow victory in 1:49.2.

“Mac is back,” joked trainer Bob McIntosh in the winner’s circle. “Jack drove this horse absolutely perfectly tonight. He was up into the action in the middle and picked up the right kind of cover. This horse is as tough as they come. If you were in a bar fight, he’d be a good guy to have in front of you.”

Owned by McIntosh, CSX Stables and John Fielding, the win was the seventh of the year for Ponder, who captured Western Fair Raceway’s flagship event, The Molson Pace, in late May. He’s now amassed seasonal earnings of $706,200 with much of the season’s stakes cash still up for grabs. For McIntosh, the victory represented his fourth Canadian Pacing Derby championship and vaulted his seasonal training earnings to nearly $2-million.

So far in 2005, the multiple O’Brien Award winning conditioner is sporting a career season, with a UTRS figure of 0.473. For Moiseyev, the CPD winnings pushed his lifetime purse tally to more than $100-million. Arts Chip raced a very game mile, finishing just a head back in second. Tigerama, an elimination winner last week, was flying in the latter stages and finished third, while Dr No, the early leader, completed the superfecta.