The nation's best two-year-old trotting filly in 2022, Righteous Resolve made her first appearance of 2023 during the Friday (May 26) qualifying session at Woodbine Mohawk Park. 

With regular pilot and Hall of Famer Paul MacDonell at the controls, Righteous Resolve left with purpose as the wings of the gate folded but she wasn't alone as three trotters to her inside had similar ideas. Once past the :30.4 opening quarter, Righteous Resolve cleared a breaking Northern Charlotte in the pocket and landed in second behind tempo-setter Mass Hysteria (Trevor Henry). Mass Hysteria fronted the field through a 1:00.1 half and 1:29 third station, with Righteous Resolve starting her attack around that far turn. Once straightened away, Righteous Resolve showed plenty of resolve with a :27.3 final panel to trip the timer in 1:56.4. She was a length better than Mass Hysteria, with that front pair virtually in their own qualifier and the rest double digits in arrears.

"The half was a little bit slower," MacDonell told Trot Insider after the qualifier. "She had slight interference there just past the quarter — I don't know if they marked it as interference, but she had to go wide around the breaking horse. And I thought she was pretty strong down to the lane, and came to the wire pretty nice."

Expect to see Righteous Resolve among those entered in the first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold leg for her division at Mohawk on June 8. Matt Bax trains the daughter of Resolve - Motown Muscle for breeder - owners Bet Max Stables Inc.and Benenati Inc of Michigan. In 2022, Righteous Resolve posted a 8-1-1 summary from 10 starts with a mark of 1:53.1 and more than $623,000 in earnings, and she'll look to add to those totals in that OSS test next month.

Linedrive Hanover clocked the fastest mile of the morning, a 1:50.1 scorcher punctuated by a sub-:26 final quarter.

Making his second appearance of the season, Linedrive Hanover and driver James MacDonald sat the pocket behind Poseidon Seelster (Bob McClure) through panels of :28.2, :56.4 and 1:24.1. The sprint was on in the stretch, with Linedrive Hanover a half-length better on this occasion while pacing home in :25.3.

Five-year-old Linedrive Hanover (Betting Line - Lillian Hanover) sports a 11-3-2 summary from 18 starts and $366,500 in earnings for trainer Tony Beaton and owners West Wins Stable of Wellington, Fl., McKinlay & Fielding of Toronto and Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont. 

The full video stream from Friday's session is available below. 

For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).