With eliminations not required for the $700,000 (U.S.) Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace, the connections of the 11 entrants are looking to get a mile into their charges wherever they can. This morning during the qualifying session at Mohawk Racetrack, driver Sylvain Filion was up behind the Tim Pinske-trained
Whackamole Hanover.
Filion and the Cams Card Shark colt lined up in Post 9 during the first of the morning dashes. The track was rated 'fast,' but a one-second allowance in time was implemented by the presiding Ontario Racing Commission judges.
Filion and the career winner of $64,066 floated around the first turn and were parked in second past the :29.2 opening station.
Clearing to the engine in the second panel, Whackamole Hanover and Filion clicked off the opening half in 1:00.1 and paced past the three-quarters stanza in 1:29.4.
The colt was well in hand for Filion in the final quarter and sustained his seven-length lead for a leisurely victory in 1:58.3.
According to Filion, the front-end style was not what he was looking to do with the colt.
"He doesn't like to be on the front end," Filion told Trot Insider. "He likes to chase horses. I had no choice but to go to the lead with him this morning because there wasn't any pace in the race."
When asked whether the trip was as easy as it looked on paper, Filion said 'no.'
"He's not all that good in the daytime," he explained. "He has a tendency to look at a lot of things -- shadows -- and not want to stay on his business as much as he does at night. I was pleased with the way that he went this morning, though."
In terms of his chances in the Breeders Crown, Filion said that things will have to go Whackamole Hanover's way.
"He needs a trip," Filion said. "I think if he comes into himself he'll be fine."
The colt has seen light action since Mohawk's $1 million Metro Pace on September 5. After the Metro, Whackamole Hanover qualified back on September 21 and went on to race pari-mutuelly at the Campbellville, Ont. oval in a 'non-winners' race on September 27. Prior to this morning's qualifier, the colt had put in an October 9 qualifier at Mohawk.
Click here to view the charted harness racing results from the Mohawk qualifying session.