If the charted lines from Mohawk Racetrack's qualifiers on Friday (May 19) are any indication, Lady Shadow will have her work cut out for her in defending her Roses Are Red title next month.
In the morning's first tilt, James MacDonald had Lady Shadow out for her first mile since the Sam 'Chip' Noble Memorial at Miami Valley on May 8. Lady Shadow was in command through fractions of :28.1, :57 and 1:25.3 before opening up a three-plus length lead at the head of the lane. To make things interesting, Bedroomconfessions (Randy Waples) unleashed a steamy :26.3 closing quarter to fall just a head short of Lady Shadow in the 1:52.3 mile.
Ron Adams trains Lady Shadow, a six-year-old daughter of Shadow Play-Lady Camella for David Kryway, Carl Atley, Edwin Gold and BFJ Stable. The three-time O'Brien Award winner and two-time Roses Are Red champ boasts 30 lifetime victories with earnings in excess of $1.83 million.
After taking a break for stallion duty, trotting horse Il Sogno Dream made his six-year-old debut in stellar fashion with a confident 1:55 score, nearly four lengths the best.
Trevor Henry was back in the bike behind Il Sogno Dream for trainer Vic Puddy and Ontario-based owners Bill Manes, Dan Manes, Leonard Christopher and Randy Christopher. The son of Cantab Hall - Le Reve has 19 career wins and is nearing the million-dollar mark in purses.
O'Brien Award finalist Seven And Seven made his first on-track appearance as a sophomore with a confident, pulling-away 1:57.3 mile. Trainer-owner Tom Durand handled the three-year-old son of Chapter Seven - Ally Oop for co-owners June Durand and Allan Smith.
Seven And Seven banked a healthy $226,000-plus in eight freshman starts, with the bulk of his earnings coming courtesy his win in the $350,000 William Wellwood Memorial.
On A Sunny Day showed signs of returning to her solid two-year-old form with a win her second qualifier of the year. Sylvain Filion guided the Luc Blais trainee
to a half-length score in 2:00.1.
In 2016 On A Sunny Day (Muscle Mass - Dicent No) was nearly flawless for Serge Godin's Determination stable of Quebec with four wins and a narrow second-place finish in six starts. Her only miscue came in the Ontario Sires Stakes super Final, where she went off as the betting favourite and made an uncharacteristic break in stride.
For full results from Friday's qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Qualifiers - Mohawk Racetrack.