In his third qualifier since resurfacing, the eight-year-old Majestic Son stallion Warrawee Roo toured the Woodbine Mohawk Park oval with a 1:57.4 stroll of a mile during the 14-race qualifying session Thursday morning (April 1).
Last week was the first where Warrawee Roo hit the finish line first since his last pari-mutuel start in 2018. "He was really good," trainer Luc Blais said after the March 25 qualifier. "It's been a long time since I've seen him like that. I was very pleased."
The long layoff came as a result of a late-season injury in 2018—Warrawee Roo’s five-year-old campaign.
"He raced super in the Breeders Crown if you remember, he should have won,” Blais told Trot Insider. He was three-wide in that last turn and he only lost by a little bit. He was very strong. And then he was eligible for the TVG, and you could see in that race he wasn't 100 percent. After the race he was lame, he x-rayed him and found a fracture in the left front foot and we gave him time off to recover."
Blais made the decision to give the horse three qualifiers because "He's a big, heavy horse and he didn't race for two years. You can see the class he's got, every week he's stepped up."
In the Thursday qualifier, driver Bob McClure settled Warrawee Roo into second to a :29.4 quarter before circling to the lead into the backstretch. From there, Warrawee Roo trotted a clip of :59.2 and 1:28.3 before capping the mile with a :29.1 final quarter to stop the clock in 1:57.4—the fastest trotting mile on the morning. Nylander finished second and Combs Hanover third.
The fastest pacing mile came a bit later in the morning when Anthony Montini trainee Revolt rolled to a 10-and-a-quarter length victory. Driven by Trevor Henry, the four-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding sat second to a :28.3 opening quarter and then took the lead on the move to the backstretch. Passing the half in :57.2, Revolt revved away from his competition to three-quarters in 1:24.4 and coasted to the finish of a 1:54 mile over Make Some Luck. Alleyesonme finished third.
The Thursday morning qualifying session is available in its entirety below:
To view Thursday's qualifying results, click on the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifier).