As part of its outstanding Confederation Cup program this Sunday, Flamboro Downs will host $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold finals for the three-year-old trotting colts and two-year-old pacing colts.

Slated for Race 6 on the 1 p.m. matinee, the Gold final for the trotting colts will warm up the crowd for the Confederation Cup eliminations which will follow, and driver Jody Jamieson is expecting an impressive performance from the diagonally-gaited set.

“It should be a good race,” said the resident of Moffat, Ont., who will steer Mr Joe Sixpack from Post 2 in the $130,000 skirmish. The duo will line up alongside early favourite Daylon Magician at Post 1.

“Daylon Magician is an absolute creature, he was awesome again last week,” Jamieson noted about the division leader’s 1:55 elimination win last weekend.

Sunday’s Gold final will mark the fourth time that Jamieson has piloted Mr Joe Sixpack this season for trainer Shane Arsenault and his son Brandon Arsenault of Waterdown, Ont. and father Louis Arsenault of Freelton, Ont. The pair posted a third-place result in the season-opening Gold final at Mohawk Racetrack on May 30, and a third and seventh-place finish in their elimination and final of the Goodtimes Stakes at the Campbellville, Ont. oval in mid-June.

“I’ve driven him before and he’s gone a couple decent trips this year already,” Jamieson said. “I’m hoping Sunday will be the day.”

Mr Joe Sixpack heads into the third Gold final of the season off a third-place finish behind Undercover Strike in last week’s elimination. With one elimination win, in the season opener, and two third-place finishes in Gold Series action, the son of Striking Sahbra currently sits tied for fifth in the division standings with 74 points.

Five races later, following the two Confederation Cup eliminations, the two-year-old pacing colts will keep the excitement level at a peak, and Jamieson’s mount, Warrawee Needy, will be part of the reason for the buzz. The long-legged son of E Dees Cam set a track and Ontario Sires Stakes record in last week’s elimination round, and Jamieson does not expect that the outside Post 8 in Sunday’s final will hamper the colt’s ability to take a second crack at the record books.

“I think he’s a really good horse, he’s on the verge of greatness I believe,” the recently-crowned World Driving Champion said. “And I don’t think the eight-hole is going to hinder him any. Obviously, I’m going to have to be aggressive with him and see how the race plays out, but I really believe he’s the best colt in the race and he’ll prove it again on Sunday.”

The driver’s father, Carl Jamieson of Princeton, Ont., trains Warrawee Needy and shares ownership of the colt with Thomas Kyron of Toronto, Ont., breeder Dr. Michael Wilson of Rockwood, Ont. and Floyd Marshall of Jarvis, Ont. A $20,000 yearling acquisition last fall, Warrawee Needy has accumulated $251,000 through eight starts, with his only loss coming in the final of Grand River Raceway’s Battle of Waterloo on August 1.

The other elimination winners, I Found My Beach and Hard To Mach, will line up shoulder-to-shoulder at Posts 4 and 5, but Jamieson is confident that Warrawee Needy can overcome his post to pick up another Gold final trophy to go along with the ones he captured at Mohawk on July 4 and Rideau Carleton Raceway on July 18.

“We’ll try and get a position in the middle of the pack and just make our own luck from there. He’s such an amazing animal it doesn’t really matter a whole lot where he gets away,” the reinsman said. “I don’t really care, as long as he wins I’m happy.”

In addition to his Gold final mounts, Jamieson will also pilot North America Cup winner Up The Credit in the first Confederation Cup elimination on behalf of his father, Thomas Kyron, Joanne Morrison of Beeton, Ont. and Brian Paquet of Quebec City, QC.

All of the exciting Confederation Cup action will get under way at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, with the Gold finals slated as Races 6 and 11. The Confederation Cup eliminations will go postward in Races 8 and 9, with the $352,500 final wrapping up the afternoon in Race 12.

Along with the on-track festivities, Flamboro Downs fans have their third opportunity to qualify for the Ontario Sires Stakes program’s ‘Win The Thrill’ contest. By entering a ballot in the designated Win The Thrill race, fans can qualify for the Grand Prize Draw, which will be held during Grassroots Championship night at Mohawk Racetrack on October 1. The grand-prize winner could find themselves hoisting an OSS trophy next season as a member of the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association’s (SBOA) New Owner Mentoring Program.

More information about the ‘Win The Thrill’ contest and the SBOA New Owners Mentoring program is available at ontariosiresstakes.com and standardbredbreeders.com. Ballots and details are available in the official Flamboro Downs program.

(courtesy Standardbred Canada & OSS)