FORT ERIE, Canada, CMC – Jamaican Kirk Johnson took the headlines at Fort Erie on Sunday when he rode three impressive winners on the eight-race card.
He had to wait until race four to taste success with a 10-1 choice Gambler’s Pose, but then he went on to capture race five with his favorite Grand Ambition and race seven with another favorite, Princess Aleska.
Johnson, who splits his time between Fort Erie and Woodbine in Toronto, lies second on five wins – one behind Ismael Mosqueira – in the early exchanges of the season, which got underway May 28 and wrapped up October 22.
Reigning Fort Erie champion, Barbadian Christopher Husbands, was also in winners’ row when he combined with an 11-1 bet Among the Roses to beat the three-year-old and upward maiden fillies and mares by a nose in a six-furlong sprint.
Jamaican jockey Mark-Lee Buchanan also made his presence felt, guiding 4-1 chance A Gal for TJ to a handsome 4-¾ length score over the three-year-olds and upward fillies and mares in a 5-½ furlong dash.
After finishing last in race one, three from bottom in race two, and one from last in race three, Johnson hit back in a five-furlong sprint in race four when he got four-year-old bay filly Gambler’s Pose up late to beat the three-year-old and upward maiden fillies and mares by half-length.
Two-to-one choice Tangerine Twist produced the early fractions until Johnson brought Gambler’s Pose from mid-pack with a storming stretch run to catch the leaders.
He followed up in a six-furlong sprint for the three-year-olds and upward when he carried four-year-old bay gelding Grand Ambition to a dominant 5-¼ length score in a gate-to-wire effort.
Grand Ambition sprinted clear to lead by four lengths at the half-mile in 45.04 seconds, and after that, the result was never in doubt.
Johnson capped off a fine day when he unveiled another front-running effort, this time aboard three-year-old bay filly Princess Aleska, to dismiss the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by 1-¼ lengths going seven furlongs.
and then 