Making his first appearance since an accident in the 2023 Mohawk Gold Cup, older pacing star Wheels On Fire returned to action during the session of qualifiers on Friday, Feb. 23 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

With James MacDonald at the controls, Wheels On Fire faced four formidable foes in his Friday frolic. MacDonald gave the now nine-year-old his cue to cut the mile, and the hulking pacer obliged. After a stroll through early fractions of :30, :59 ands 1:27.4, Wheels On Fire heated things up in that final panel with Momentary Control (Tyler Jones) in hot pursuit. Closing in :27.1, Wheels On Fire held off the fleet-footed Momentary Control by a half length for the 1:55 score. Cheesy Smile (Tyler Borth) was another four lengths back in third.

Wheels On Fire (Somebeachsomewhere - Ab Fab) is trained by Richard Moreau for owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont. The 2021 O'Brien Award winner sports a summary of 47-32-25 from 147 lifetime starts with more than $1.1 million in earnings.

After an off-the-pace score in his return one week ago, 2020 O'Brien Award winner Pemberton was on top and eager this time around for driver Bert Renaud. The trotter cut all the fractions before pulling away courtesy a :27.2 quarter in a double-digit romp — 13 lengths, to be exact — over his rivals. The mile was timed in 1:54.2, the fastest mile of the morning.

Julie Walker trains Pemberton (Wheeling N Dealin - Dayshifter) for Georgian Triangle-based owners Christine & Brenda Walker. The six-year-old looks ready to add to his 15 lifetime wins and half-million dollar bankroll in imminent pari-mutuel activity.

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

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

(Standardbred Canada)