After enjoying a “crazy big effort” from Emoticon Legacy three weeks ago in the Goodtimes Stakes, driver Louis-Philippe Roy is hoping the colt can put together another memorable performance in Thursday’s $320,000 USD Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial (Grade 2) for three-year-old trotters at Vernon Downs.

Roy teamed with Emoticon Legacy to capture the Goodtimes by 3-1/4 lengths in 1:50.2 on June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The time was the fastest ever by a sophomore trotter on Canadian soil and equalled Canada’s all-age trot record.

“He’s kind of the talk of the town here,” said Roy prior to driving at Mohawk on Tuesday evening. “He showed coming into that race that he was ready, but that was a little more than what I expected. It was a crazy big effort. I hope he can repeat it, that it’s not a one-time thing. I hope when I get behind him that he feels the same way.”

Emoticon Legacy was parked going to the front in a :26.4 opening quarter in the Goodtimes, then reached the half in :55.1 and three-quarters in 1:23 as Ake Svanstedt-driven Gap Kronos S looked to apply first-over pressure on the final turn. Emoticon Legacy trotted home in :27.2, which equalled the best last quarter of any of the race’s nine participants.

“I couldn’t see how fast the [first] quarter popped up because I was parked a little bit there and kept driving to the front,” said Roy. “When the half came up in :55.1, I was a little bit worried and I didn’t get much of a break because Ake Svanstedt was already on the move. I was worried I’d used mine a little too much and he wouldn’t be able to sustain it. But he did the opposite. When I asked him, he opened up.”

Emoticon Legacy, trained by Luc Blais and owned by breeder Determination, is two-for-two this season. Last year, the son of Walner-Emoticon Hanover won four of seven races, including the Champlain Stakes and eliminations of the William Wellwood Memorial and Breeders Crown. He was fourth and sixth, respectively, in those finals.

“He was a different horse pretty much every time you sat behind him, which is hard as a driver,” Roy said about last year. “I remember early in the year that he was so hot you had to keep him quiet. I thought maybe some races he raced himself twice between the post parade and the race itself.

“Then later on, he was the other way. I thought maybe I should get him a little more on the bit and more ready to go. Now this year, we took our time qualifying him and making sure we knew what he had going into his first races. One thing about him is that he’s very efficient with his gait. He’s not a big horse and he just floats on the track.”

Emoticon Legacy qualified four times, all wins at Mohawk, before his debut this season.

“Last year, he was a little bit green and didn’t always know what to do,” said Blais earlier this year. “Now, he’s more focused.”

Emoticon Legacy and Roy will leave from post five in Thursday’s Zweig Memorial, which attracted a field of seven. He is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line behind 9-5 favourite Maryland.

Maryland, who received the Dan Patch and O’Brien awards as the sport’s best two-year-old male trotter in 2024, made his seasonal debut on June 13 in a division of the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon. He finished second to stablemate Super Chapter, who last week won the MGM Yonkers Trot, the first jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown. Trained by Marcus Melander, Maryland will leave from post two with driver Dexter Dunn.

All seven Zweig participants are eligible to the 100th edition of the Hambletonian on Aug. 2 at The Meadowlands. Maryland is ranked No. 2 in Meadowlands announcer/analyst Ken Warkentin’s Road to the Hambletonian (behind Super Chapter) while Emoticon Legacy is No. 3. Sixth-ranked Hidalgo and No. 7 Onajetplane also are in the Zweig.

“It’s a great group and that’s what you want going into the Hambletonian,” Roy said about the overall three-year-old trotting division. “I think it’s fun for the fans right now.”

Nine three-year-olds entered Thursday’s $135,000 USD filly division of the Zweig Memorial, also a Grade 2 event. Roy and Blais will team up with Lasting Dream in that race. She will leave from post two and is 9-1 on the morning line.

In two starts this season, the Determination homebred daughter of Cantab Hall-Dream Together has a second and a third (beaten by a neck). Last year, she hit the board in seven of nine races, winning two. She finished second to Maryland in the Mohawk Million and second to O’Brien Award-winning filly Monalishi in the Peaceful Way Stakes.

“I know Lasting Dream doesn’t show much in her first two starts at Mohawk, but she came back really sound compared to where she was last year, especially late in the year,” said Roy. “She’s not really a sprinter and the first few starts I maybe got her in bad spots for her. She might be a little bit under the radar right now.

“I think she can go forever; she never really gets tired. I might be wrong later on, but right now I’ve got good hopes for her.”

The 3-1 morning line favourite in the Zweig filly event is New York Sire Stakes standout My Debt Collecter, who has five wins and three seconds in eight races this season for trainer Nifty Norman. She will leave from post one with Tyler Buter in the sulky.

Also in the field are 2024 Goldsmith Maid Stakes winner What A Bid Hanover and runner-up Voguish, who were separated by a nose at the finish.

Racing begins at 5:05 p.m. at Vernon Downs. The Zweig for fillies is race eight and the Zweig open is race nine.

(USTA)