Sophomore stakes winner Century Heineken was overshadowed by stablemate Jimmy Connor B in his four-year-old debut, but the speedster was the toast of the qualifying session on Friday (April 1) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
With Chris Matthews at the controls, Century Heineken was hustled into second early behind Rhythm In Motion (Sylvain Filion) through a :29.4 opening quarter but was eager to vacate the pocket heading down the backside. Matthews obliged and with the wind at his back Century Heineken cleared to command with ease. After middle panels of :58 and 1:26.3, Century Heineken faced a strong headwind turning for home but fended off late rallies from a seasonally-debuting P L Ozzy (Austin Sorrie) and Mappos Lion (Paul MacDonell) in 1:55.3 -- the fastest mile of the morning session.
Gregg McNair handles the conditioning for Century Heineken (Bettors Delight - Brushstrokes), who sports a 4-4-1 summary from 16 starts and earnings in excess of $107,000 for owner Ross Family Farms of Wingham, Ont.
Races 2 through 10 from Friday's qualifying session are available in the replay below.
To view the full results from the Friday qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).