YS Lotus wins Gold Cup and Saucer in record time

YS Lotus and driver Louis-Philippe Roy set a new track record to win the $60,000 Gold Cup and Saucer race Saturday night at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

Gold Cup and Saucer, Aug. 20, 2016

8 years ago

Duration 2:57

Gold Cup and Saucer, Aug. 20, 2016

YS Lotus, trained by Rene Allard and owned by Yves Sarrazin of La Presentation, Que., won the 57th annual race in a time of 1:50.1, beating the record of 1:50.3 set last year by Crombie A.

YS Lotus paid$6.70 to win on a $2 bet.

Roy said about 95 per cent of the credit for the win should go to the horse. But he said there were some tactical choiceshe made during the race to help bring him and the horse to victory.

He approached the final differently than he did the qualifying race becausehe knew other horses would be trying to be up front, Roy said.

"In the elimination I used my horse pretty hard in the first part of the race, getting in front," he said.

"But in the final ...I let them battle for the lead in the first part of the race and then I kept my horse a bit more for the end."

This was Roy's first year competing in the Gold Cup and Saucer.

"For me it's almost the biggest race in Canada, so it's a great feeling," he said.

Go Daddy Go, driven by Brad Forward and also trained by Allard and owned by Sarrazin, came second at 1:51.2 after leading from the rail. Alexas Jackpot finished third.

Foiled Again, the 12-year-old sentimental favourite, and harness racing's richest horse with almost $7.5 million in earnings, finished fifth at 1:52.2 with Charlottetown's Marc Campbell driving.

It was the third straight win on P.E.I. this summer for YS Lotus, who took the Governor's Plate at Red Shores in Summerside and a feature race at the Charlottetown track in July.

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