Uncle Lasse and Lookslikeachpndale posted a pair of career-best winning performances in the $30,000 eliminations for the William Wellwood Memorial for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings early Saturday evening at Mohawk Racetrack.
The eliminations were held as non-wagering races before the regular Saturday card. They were originally scheduled to take place during Friday night's program which was cancelled after the first race due to severe weather.
Driven by Scott Zeron, Jimmy Takter trainee Uncle Lasse was victorious in the first elimination in a Canadian season's record of 1:54.4. He left from post six and carved out fractions of :27.4, :58 and 1:27 before kicking home in :27.4 to seal the deal. Habitat (Sylvain Filion) followed one and a quarter lengths behind in second while Big Rich (Steve Condren) finished over six lengths back in third. Dont Rush (Chris Christoforou) and Wheels Ah Smokin (Rick Zeron) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Donato Hanover-Solveig colt, a runner-up in the Peter Haughton Memorial, has now won half of his six starts and has never finished worse than third while banking $161,769 for Solveigs Racing Partners of East Windsor, New Jersey.
Lookslikeachpndale and driver Sylvain Filion won the second elimination in 1:56.2 for trainer Luc Blais. Also leaving from the outside post six, he fronted the field through panels of :28.4, :58.3 and 1:28 before holding off the pocket-pulling Jetpedia (Mike Saftic) by a head for the victory. Aldebaran Eagle (Doug McNair) finished one length behind in third. Southwind Stryker (Steve Condren) and Gifted Way (Scott Zeron) completed the top five finishers.
The Muscle Hill-Poster Pin Up colt is owned by Determination of Westmount, Que. The victory was his first in five career starts and followed up a pair of third-place finishes in the Define The World Series Final and Champlain Stakes.
"He's getting better and better every week and hopefully he keeps on getting better because he will need to," said Filion.
The field for next Saturday’s $390,000 William Wellwood Memorial Trot is listed below in post position order. The connections of the elimination winners were able to choose their posts for the final.
1. Gifted Way
2. Lookslikeachpndale
3. Uncle Lasse
4. Dont Rush
5. Aldebaran Eagle
6. Habitat
7. Jetpedia
8. Southwind Stryker
9. Wheels Ah Smokin
10. Big Rich
AE: Infiniti As
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Mohawk Racetrack.