Fresh off a weekend where he won the O'Brien Award of Horsemanship, Per Henriksen sent one of his pupils out to compete in the compact, six-dash qualifying card at Mohawk racetrack this morning. And that student, a trotter, came home with the fast final quarter of any in attendance
.
Who is the trotter in question? Please Poppy, the 2009 Glorys Comet Trotting Series champion who was putting in his second consecutive qualifying performance.
Starting from Post 6 in the field of eight, Please Poppy, with Mark MacDonald aboard, nestled into sixth and held that position through the opening two calls (:29.3, :59.2).
MacDonald and his six-year-old mount had one thing in mind along the sweeping final turn. The duo was three-high at the 1:30.2 three-quarters pole and was just a head back of the lead at the top of the lane.
Battling the tempo-setting Nureyez (driven by Jack Moiseyev) in the homestretch, MacDonald and Please Poppy went on to record a neck victory in 1:58.2.
MacDonald and Please Poppy, a son of Self Possessed, clicked off their final frame in :27.2, the fastest final-quarter time of any participant on the morning card.
The track was rated 'fast' with no variant needed.
To view the charted harness racing results from this morning's qualifying session at Mohawk, click here.