Mascarpone is now the first horse to finish ahead of Shalom Hanover in a charted mile. Now the question remains if he'll be able to duplicate that feat when there's money on the line.
During the qualifying session at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday, Oct. 9, freshman pacing star Shalom Hanover returned to the racetrack for the first time since his impressive Metro Pace elimination victory on Sept. 19. He was scratched lame from the final, where he would have been the overwhelming post time favourite.
Friday's second qualifier featured six horses — a pair of sophomores, Luc Blais-trained L A Captain and a trifecta of two-year-olds from the Dr. Ian Moore stable. Mascarpone left swiftest from post five and made every call a winning one for driver Travis Henry. After fractions of :28.4, :57 and 1:24.1 on top, the son of Stay Hungry-Creme Fraiche closed in :28.1 to best a fast-closing Shalom Hanover and driver Louis-Philippe Roy by a head.
Moore trains Mascarpone, a two-time winner from eight starts with $130,582 in earnings, for Mascarpone Stable of Cambridge, Ont.
After the qualifiers, Moore told Trot Insider that he plans to enter both pacing colts in next week's Breeders Crown eliminations. Elims for the freshmen take place one week from today, Friday, Oct. 16 at Scioto Downs.
The video stream provided by Woodbine Mohawk Park is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada)