Following a cancellation and short break, Woodbine Mohawk Park is set to return to live racing action this Saturday (April 1) with an extra-large 15-race card.
Mother Nature took out last Saturday’s program with extreme winds, which extended the originally scheduled end of March break by an extra program. This week’s break from live racing allowed for annual spring maintenance to be performed at the Campbellville, Ont. oval, including the recently announced track light replacement project.
This Saturday’s return comes with a special early post time of 6 p.m. and a unique 15-race card.
Take two for New Holland Series finals
The New Holland Trotting and Pacing Series finals will finally be contested this Saturday after being postponed last week due to the extreme wind.
Both finals were carried over as originally drawn for this week’s card. The $72,000 trotting series final will go as Race 5, while the $70,500 pacing series final is listed as Race 7.
The trotting event had four different winners over the course of the preliminary legs. Carmen Auciello trainee Itstimetogohome (Post 1, Doug McNair) and Shawn Steacy trainee Ritson (Post 6, Scott Young) captured leg one divisions, while Per Engblom trainee Sermon (Post 8, Bob McClure) and Harry Poulton trainee Locatelli (Post 9, James MacDonald) took top spot in round two.
The pacing finale will have Nautical Hanover (Post 8, James MacDonald) go for a series sweep after posting victories of 1:50.3 and 1:51.1 in the preliminary legs. The four-year-old son of Captaintreacherous was acquired by owner Richard Berthiaume in November and joined the barn of trainer Ben Baillargeon.
“He’s a monster right now,” said Baillargeon in a recent interview with Woodbine. “He’s such a beautiful horse. We thought we’d have to pay $100,000, for what he was on paper, but we ended up paying more [$180,000] probably just because of his looks. He’s a real good-looking horse. He has a perfect gait and he’s a looker. Seeing him come down the lane [in leg two], he impressed.”
The New Holland Series events were open to non-winners of $150,000 (fillies and mares $175,000) in 2022.
Fifteen-race card equals enhanced wagering menu
This Saturday’s card will mark the first time since June 15, 2019 that 15 races will be offered on a single program at Woodbine Mohawk Park. A total of 143 horses are scheduled to compete on the beefy program.
With extra races carded, an enhanced wagering menu will be offered that includes three Pick-5 and three Pick-4 wagers.
Race 1: Early Pick-5 (Guaranteed Pool of $100,000)
Race 4: Early Pick-4
Race 6: Pick-5
Race 8: Pick-4
Race 10: Late Pick-5
Race 12: Late Pick-4
Race 15: Jackpot Hi-5
Update on Mohawk standings
With the three months of racing now complete for 2023, the Woodbine Standardbred driver and trainer standings have familiar names sitting at the top.
James MacDonald leads all drivers with 79 wins and $1.1 million in earnings. MacDonald is the reigning two-time leading driver at Woodbine. Richard Moreau again leads all trainers in wins and earnings, having sent out 61 winners and starters earning $1.1 million. Moreau is currently on a seven-year streak of capturing the Woodbine training title.
Here is a glimpse at the current top five drivers and trainers:
Top Drivers
James MacDonald (374-79-52-48) ($1,142,665)
Louis-Philippe Roy (378-63-54-47) ($962,810)
Doug McNair (303-63-46-26) ($895,475)
Bob McClure (292-41-37-47) ($694,440)
Sylvain Filion (296-32-46-46) ($648,205)
Top Trainers
Richard Moreau (333-61-58-54) ($1,105,315)
Carmen Auciello (282-25-37-34) ($552,210)
Jodie Cullen (165-24-24-24) ($441,930)
Kyle Fellows (99-20-18-6) ($224,920)
Shayne Barrington (56-17-3-7) ($175,105)
Special post time for Saturday
Racing participants, fans and horseplayers are reminded that post time for this Saturday’s card is 6 p.m. The special start time is in place for only this Saturday. The regular post time of 7 p.m. will return on Monday, April 3.
Following Saturday's program, live racing is offered every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Woodbine)