Stop us if you've heard this one before: a 1:47 stakes-winning pacer, a three-time O'Brien Award winner and a Pepsi North America Cup champion walk into a barn.

Granted, Stonebridge Helios, So Much More and Nijinsky didn't walk into a "barn" per se, but they did all walk into the race paddock at Woodbine Mohawk Park on the morning of Friday, Oct. 4 and also walk out to participate in the first qualifier. 

Stonebridge Helios last qualified three weeks ago at Mohawk, winning in 1:54.

So Much More, as reported here last week, was returning to action after a two-month layoff for her first qualifier in, astonishingly, more than five years.

The connections of Nijinsky have next weekend's Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals in their sights after the sophomore choked during his 2024 Little Brown Jug elimination for his first out-of-the-money finish this year.

When the wings of the starting gate folded in front of those talented individuals, driver Doug McNair pointed Stonebridge Helios to the top in the reduced-to-four field, fronting So Much More (Tyler Borth) and Nijinsky (Louis-Philippe Roy) through — for that group — a tepid tempo. The first three fractions flashed up in :29.3, :59 and 1:28.2, setting up a sprint for home. 

All three of the aforementioned accomplished pacers powered home faster than 27 seconds. Nijnsky closed in :26.1, and So Much More motored to the wire in :26.2, but Stonebridge Helios had enough separation to succeed with a :26.3 final quarter and hit the wire a neck the best. Nijinsky was just back of the front pair, third by three parts of a length in the 1:55 mile.

Gregg McNair trains Stonebridge Helios (Sunshine Beach - Ken Doll J) for owners John Fleischman of Ottawa and owner-breeder Angie Stiller of London, Ont.

The winner of the 2023 Graduate Series sports a 13-3-3 summary and $736,327 accrued from his 29 lifetime starts.

A single-horse accident occurred in the fourth qualifier of the morning when Moonshine Memories broke stride and fell shortly after the start. Driver Tyler Borth told Trot Insider that the horse is fine and he's also okay.

The full video stream is available below. 

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

(Standardbred Canada)