Horses returning to action off long layoffs headlined a short Woodbine Mohawk Park qualifying session that was rescheduled from Friday, Dec. 19 to Monday, Dec. 22.
Kicking of Mohawk's first qualifying session of the winter season on a -5 degree Monday morning in Campbellville, Ont., four-year-old pacing mare Laneside Incontrol, driven by Doug McNair, looped the quick-leaving Tour Champion (J.R. Plante) at the :28.3 first quarter mark and set middle fractions of :58.4 and 1:28.1 before holding off late closers Sugar Pie Honey (James MacDonald) and Longshot Panic (Malik Smith) at the end of a 1:57.2 mile.
Murray Brethour trains Laneside Incontrol, who kicked off the morning winning her qualifying return for England's Neville Bainbridge. An eight-time winner with earnings over $100,000 from 23 starts, the homebred Control The Moment-Laneside Lexus mare was victorious last time she raced in September at Mohawk.
Next up, four-year-old trotter Devastate, trained and driven by Mark Etsell, tracked My Buddy Sam (Daryl Thiessen) in a race of their own after firing off the gate from the outside posts then the pocket-pursuer blew by late in the lane. Hot on the Thiessen helmet through panels of :28.3, :58 and 1:27.3, Devastate overpowered the tempo-setter in a :29.1 closing quarter to win by three lengths in 1:57 flat.
The Chapter Seven-Susy son, who earned the bulk of his $71,109 bankroll as a sophomore stateside during his only full season of racing action thus far, was a winner last December at Mohawk and hadn't raced since the start of 2025 on Jan. 3. He is owned by Ontario partners Frank Lamacchia, Tony Miceli, Deanmar Sons Stable and Peter Miskolczi.
In the third and final qualifier, two-year-old pacing gelding The Feast and driver James MacDonald took a brief two-hole tuck in the first turn then took over command to set middle splits of 1:00.2 and 1:29.3 en route to a 1:58.3 score, finishing about five lengths ahead of the freshman trio of early leader Dancininthedark (Tyler Jones), Sporty Evie (Doug McNair) and Alexia (Todd Ratchford) -- the latter Brad Gunn Stakes-winning filly was making her Ontario debut for B.C. owner J J J Stables.
The Feast had launched his career with a pair of starts at The Meadows this past summer before landing in the Garry Merner stable. The maiden son of Stay Hungry and Bernadette last raced on Aug. 9 and was acquired by Nova Scotia owner Dr. R. James Shive in mid-October.
A replay of Woodbine's video stream from the qualifying session is available below.
To view Monday's harness racing result, click the following link: Monday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Devastate winning on Dec. 14, 2024 at Woodbine Mohawk Park)