Western Fair: Fast and talented field set for battle in Camluck Classic

Give credit where it is due. Officials at The Raceway at Western Fair did a stellar job putting together the field for Friday's (May 27) C$150,000 Camluck Classic. Following a two-year pandemic-related absence, the race for older pacers returns with a field of talented horses who excel at winning and posting fast miles on half-mile tracks.

While his pari-mutuel win percentage is only 20 percent over a number of half-mile tracks, Jimmy Freight certainly owns the experience necessary to handle the tighter turns as he ships into the London, Ontario, area from his usual locale as the King of the Free-For-All ranks at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The Richard Moreau-trained 7-year-old returned from a two-year break from the track for stallion duty late in 2021 and has gone on quite a run lately, winning five straight races, including equaling his career-best of 1:48 1/5.

"He's better than ever," said regular driver Louis-Philippe Roy. "He retired sound and came back sound with a little more weight than he used to have. That might have explained the need for a few starts to get back to his racing form. Now he's just more muscles and more power."

While Jimmy Freight lacks a Grand Circuit stakes win over a half-mile track, he has finished second - 2019 Battle of Lake Erie (Northfield); 2019 Confederation Cup (Flamboro); 2018 Messenger (Yonkers); 2018 Milstein (Northfield) – a number of times over various surfaces. Roy, who has been in the bike for the majority of his starts for owner Adriano Sorella, knows he has a versatile horse who can handle anything.

"I have the most versatile horse in the field that can race from anywhere and that can also fly around the turns," said Roy. "He should adapt to whatever he needs on Friday."

Jimmy Freight starts from post five, perhaps a key position just to the inside of Ocean Rock and on the gate, as opposed to This Is The Plan in the second tier. Both horses own North American records over half-mile tracks.

This Is The Plan is the fastest horse ever to compete on a half-mile track by virtue of his 2021 Battle of Lake Erie victory at Northfield Park in 1:47 3/5. Yannick Gingras was in the bike that night and for most of the 7-year-old's starts over the last few years, but due to a conflict with the New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Meadowlands that same evening, he'll give over the lines to Trevor Henry for trainer Ron Burke.

"He was actually very good," said Gingras about the horse's second-place finish at the Meadowlands on May 21 timed in 1:47 3/5, his first start since the MGM Borgata final on April 25. "Off a month, we couldn't ask for more."

Ocean Rock owns a pair of North American records. He ranks as the co-fastest (1:51 1/5) gelding to win over a half as a 2-year-old and the co-fastest 4-year-old over the same-size surface with a 1:48 1/5 final clocking set last year in the Charna at Northfield Park. The Ohio-bred from the team of trainer Christi and driver Dan Noble will be making his first start of 2022 off a trio of qualifiers, the last of which was a 20-plus length 1:51 2/5 win at Scioto Downs on May 14.

"He trained better this morning than before he left, and I thought he was ready to rock before he left," said Noble, who is not heading to Canada and had just gotten a report on the horse Tuesday (May 24) afternoon. "The outside post helps him on the small track with the tight turns because on the inside it can get too tight leaving out of there."

Noble has enlisted Jody Jamieson to drive his Breeders Crown-winning 5-year-old.

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In addition to This Is The Plan, who went a very difficult mile parked the entire way, a number of MGM Borgata Series competitors form the Camluck Classic field. Among them include winner Funatthebeach N (post four), fourth-place finalist Tattoo Artist (post three), leg winner Poseidon Seelster (post one), and multi-leg participant American History (post seven). Tattoo Artist and American History are also two of the three co-track-record holders at Yonkers Raceway (1:49 3/5).

Hi-level conditioned horse Twin B Tuffenuff, an earner of nearly $600,000 lifetime, rounds out the field from post two.

With such a fast and talented field signed on, the only thing preventing the removal of Evenin Of Pleasure's 1:50 3/5 track record set in 2016 could be an early weather forecast calling for 70 percent chance of precipitation.

Rain or shine, the first of 11 races is set to start at 6:50 p.m. (EDT), and the Camluck Classic will go behind the gate as the finale. The card features a number of wagering opportunities, including a pair of guaranteed Pick 4 and Pick 5.

$150,000 Camluck Classic - Race 11 - Friday at Western Fair

1-Poseidon Seelster (Bob McClure, Don Lindsey, 3-1)
2-Twin B Tuffenuff (Tyler Moore/Dr. Ian Moore, 4-1)
3-Tattoo Artist (James MacDonald/Dr. Ian Moore, 9-5)
4-Funatthebeach N (Jordan Stratton/Jeff Gillis, 6-1)
5-Jimmy Freight (Louis Roy/Richard Moreau, 6-5)
6-Ocean Rock (Jody Jamieson/Christi Pokornowski, 8-1)
7-American History (Travis Cullen/Richard Moreau, 10-1)
8-This Is The Plan (Trevor Henry/Ron Burke, 2-1)