No Pan Intended gelding Alexie Mattosie received more than a month's break after a disappointing finish in the Canadian Pacing Derby in early September. Trainer Don Lindsey had his William Haughton Memorial winner back on track Friday morning during Mohawk Racetrack's qualifying
session.
The five-year-old gelding headlined Race 7, the last dash of the session which was contested over a 'fast' track.
Lindsey had tapped Dave Boughton to perform the driving duties, and the pair lined up in Post 7 for the nine-horse tilt.
Boughton and his mount were not playing around once the wings of the starting gate began to swing away. The duo fired off hard and were up six lengths on their foes by the time they breezed past the opening station in :27.4.
Boughton and Alexie Mattosie continued to apply the pressure through the middle panels. They threw up a second panel in :28 for a :55.4 opening half; and the career winner of 25 races and over $838,000 in purses paced the third quarter in :27.3 and cruised past the third station in 1:23.2.
Alexie Mattosie closed out his mile with a :27.4 final panel for a six and a quarter-length victory in 1:51.1. The three-year-old Dave Menary-trained filly Modern Connection finished second in the dash and was followed by Good Bad Lucky.
One dash prior, Race 6, saw the John Burns-trained and Randy Waples-driven Kandor Hanover return from a solid layoff and trot to a second-place finish. The five-year-old Tagliabue mare hadn't raced since a second-place finish in the July 23 Armbro Flight Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack. The one who upended Kandor Hanover was Lexis DJ, who converted a two-hole trip for driver Scott Zeron and trainer Shane Arsenault. The four-year-old Amigo Hall gelding stopped the clock in 1:56.4. Kandor Hanover was clocked in 1:57.
The opening half of the session saw a couple of horses post some double-digit margins of victory.
Race 2 was won by the Phil Hudon-driven and James 'Friday' Dean-trained Panther Hanover, a two-year-old Rocknroll Hanover colt out of the same mare (Panned Out) as the $523,000 earner Philos Hanover. Hudon steered the lightly-raced colt to a 16-length victory in 1:53.2.
Race 3 was the scene of another 16-length win. Three-year-old Credit Winner gelding Double Up Hanover trotted to the lengthy win in 1:58.4 for his trainer/driver, Rick Zeron.
The other winners during the session were Princess Amigo (1:58.1), Shipps Xanadu (1:54.2) and Martha Maxine (1:55.1).
To view the harness racing results for the Friday qualifying session at Mohawk Racetrack, click the following link: Friday - Mohawk Racetrack (Qualifiers).