Dominion Day Field Gassed by Mobil

Gus Schickedanz's Mobil ran the race of his life and produced the most dominant performance by any horse at Woodbine this year when crushing six rivals in the $217,220 Dominion Day Stakes (Can-III) Thursday.

Jockey Todd Kabel guided the four-year-old son of Langfuhr   to the eye-popping 12 3/4-length win over Mark One and The Judge Sez Who in a running time of 2:03.34 for 1 ¼ miles.

"That's the way you like to see him run," beamed trainer Mike Keogh.

The Dominion Day, the Canada Day Holiday feature at the Toronto oval, was a nice bounce-back for the bay colt who disappointed in his last start, the Met Mile (gr. I) at Belmont Park on May 31, where he faced the continent's best older horses.

"You never want to see a horse get beat like that (ninth, beaten 11 lengths), especially for their confidence," Keogh said. "But he trained back very well and when he worked a mile (on June 19), he was super."

Kabel, the meet's leading rider with 63 wins, sees the now nine-time stakes winner improving every day. "This horse is lot more mature this year, and he's letting you do want you want. That's what good horses are all about. When I asked my horse to run, he gave me another gear. He lowered his back like I never felt him before."

The Dominion Day win added $130,320 to Mobil's already impressive career earnings mark, which now totals $1,298,261.

His resume includes two 2002 stakes wins (Simcoe, Cup & Saucer), five 2003 added tallies (Queenston, Plate Trial, Toronto Cup, Halton, Ontario Derby) and two more stakes this season (Vigil, Dominion Day).

Mobil paid $3.20, $2.10, $2.10 across the board and combined with 3-1 second choice Mark One ($2.60, $2.20) for a $7.40 exacta. The Judge Sez Who ($2.70), the 5-1 third choice, rounded out the paltry $14.30 trifecta.

(Chart, Equibase)