High-ranking trotters Windsun Revenge and Tony Soprano ended their hiatuses from charted miles Thursday, March 30 during Mohawk Racetrack’s weekly qualifying session, and they did so with convincing victories.
Windsun Revenge, a six-year-old son of Kadabra, took to the track for Race 2, and he and pilot Paul MacDonell lined up in Post 7 for trainer Jeff Durham. The brown gelding was all business during the mile, as he was first to every call and trotted his mile in 1:58.1. The ‘fast’ track was deemed one second slow by the judges. The gelding cut the fractions in :28.3, 1:00.4 and 1:30.2 and came home in :27.4 for a two and a half-length win.
Windsun Revenge is looking to build off of his productive 2016 campaign, one in which he won five of his 17 starts and recorded a pair of seconds and a trio of third-place finishes. He lowered his mark to 1:51.4 (taken over Mohawk) last season, a campaign in which he banked $143,330 of his $364,563 in career purses. Durham trains Windsun Revenge for his partner, Robert Van Camp.
Race 2 was also the charted return of fellow Preferred trotter Musical Rhythm, the Ben Baillargeon-trained Graduate winner that rode a long win streak to begin his 2016 season. With Mario Baillargeon at his lines, the Cantab Hall horse finished second to Windsun Revenge Thursday morning, as he sat the pocket throughout the mile.
Tony Soprano, the 2015 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final winner trained by Bob McIntosh, was also victorious off a layoff during the session. The four-year-old Kadabra gelding had last raced in early December. He proved to be a strong off-the-pace victor in his charted return, as he showed his foes a quick turn of foot in Race 4. After having raced third through the fractions, driver Randy Waples had Tony Soprano ahead by more than six lengths at the head of the stretch. He went on to post a 12 and a half-length victory in 1:56.
Other winners during the session included Jordies Hope (1:56.2), Prescotts Hope (1:56.2), McKinley (1:59.1), Mr Houdini (2:02), Holiday Style (2:03.2) and Ask For Me (1:56.3)
To view the harness racing results for the Thursday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Thursday Results – Mohawk Racetrack (Qualifiers).