Trainer Tony O’Sullivan collected three victories on the Saturday, Nov. 2 card at Woodbine Mohawk Park, one of which came with Angers Bayama as he delivered as the odds-on favourite in the first of two divisions for the opening preliminary of the Harvest Series for sophomore pacing colts.
Sent at odds of 3-5, Angers Bayama sat second to a :28 first quarter before driver Sylvain Filion circled the Big Jim gelding to the point prior to a :56 half. From there Angers Bayama faced little challenge when pacing to three-quarters in 1:24.4 and to the finish in 1:53.2. Prestige Seelster gave chase from the pocket to finish second, two lengths behind, with Strategic Thinking another five lengths behind in third.
Owned by Bayama Farms Inc., Angers Bayama won his fourth race from 12 starts, earning $45,355. The $3.30 winner sandwiched O’Sullivan’s other winners on the card with Lisburn ($13.10) winning the opener and Ellis Park ($8.80) winning the penultimate dash on the card.
The First Step swept off cover to take the second division of the Harvest Series. The Betterthancheddar gelding raced fifth to a :27.2 opening quarter set by Excaliber Seelster, who yielded command to odds-on favourite Thrilling Times passing a :56 half. Machdavid then moved first over rounding the final turn towards three-quarters in 1:24.4 tracked by The First Step. Driver James MacDonald sent The First Step three wide spinning for the finish and kicked to a one-and-a-quarter length win in 1:53.3 over Machdavid. Thrilling Times took third.
Co-owned by trainer Timothy Gillespie with Jason Churchill, The First Step won his second race from 11 starts this season and his fourth from 19 overall, earning $70,548. He paid $9.60 to win.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.