Two-time Quebec champion The Magic Moment kicked off his four-year-old season with a successful qualifier at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Monday, Jan. 12.
Rescheduled from Friday, Jan. 9 due to weather, Monday's qualifying session began with The Magic Moment's season debut over a "good" track with a variant of two seconds. The Francis Guillemette trainee chased the starting gate away to grab a five-length lead by the first quarter pole for driver Louis-Philippe Roy. He clocked fractions of :29, :59.1 and 1:29 before holding off Valedictory Series starter Magical Bet (Jody Jamieson) by a head at the end of the 1:57.4 mile while claiming pacer Lets Get Rocked (Doug McNair) chased down the center of the track just over a length back in third. The winning time was the fastest of the morning's seven qualifiers amid wintery conditions.
Bred by Gestion A&A Belanger Inc. and co-owned with Cynthia Cote Dupont of Shawinigan, Que., the Control The Moment-Wind River Cat is coming off a 12-win sophomore season when he banked just shy of $100,000 from 20 starts that included the second Quebec Championship stakes title of his career, a perfect Prospect Series stint and multiple Preferred-level victories at Flamboro Downs.
A replay of Woodbine's video stream from the qualifiers is available below.
For complete results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Monday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of The Magic Moment winning on Sept. 14 at Hippodrome 3R)