Many of the last year’s pacing and trotting stars made their way to Mohawk Racetrack earlier this morning as they continue to fine-tune their speed in preparation for a busy season of stake events.
Last year’s Battle Of Waterloo winner, Trail Boss, front-stepped his way to a 1:53 clocking for the father/son duo of trainer Gregg McNair and driver Doug McNair. The three-year-old son of Apaches Fame laid down splits of :28.1, :57.3 and 1:25.4 before storming home in :27.1.
Fast Pay, the winner of last year’s OSS Grassroots Final at Flamboro Downs, was a fast-closing runner-up in his first effort of the season for trainer Dave Menary. The son of Western Terror paced his own mile in 1:53.2. The top two finishers, along with Millionaire Cam (5th), Bay Of Sharks (6th) and Stonebridge Terror (7th) have been kept eligible to this year’s Pepsi North America Cup.
To find out where those colts rank in Trot Magazine’s 2009 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book, click here.
Susies Magic strutted her stuff in the second qualifier of the morning session. The Tony O’Sullivan-trained daughter of Dream Vacation rolled the field through fractions of :27.4, :58.2 and 1:27.3 before sprinting home in :27.4 for a mile in 1:55.2. Jody Jamieson guided the six-year-old to the winning effort. It was the third qualifier of the season, and by far the best one so far, for the 2006 Breeders Crown winner.
A trio of trotters from last year’s OSS program – Hitithard, SOS Respect and Striking Lindsey – finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in today’s eighth qualifier.
Hitithard went gate-to-wire in a time of 1:58.2 for driver Mike Saftic and trainer John “Poncho” Ciarpelli. The son of Mr Lavec took a 1:57.1 mark at Kawartha Downs last season en route to banking more than $77,000. He finished up his rookie season with a third-place finish in the $300,000 OSS Super Final.
SOS Respect, a daughter of Mr Lavec, finished second and trotted her own mile in 1:58.4 for driver Sylvain Filion. The Kevin O’Reilly student earned a 2:00.4 record at Kawartha Downs last season in an OSS Gold Series elimination.
Striking Lindsey finished fourth and was race-timed in 1:59.4 in his first charted line of the season for trainer Gregg McNair. Doug McNair was aboard the career winner of $258,496, who went 4-for-14 in his rookie season. The son of Striking Sahbra capped off his freshman campaign by winning his $88,812 division of the Bud Light Stakes at Flamboro Downs.
Paul MacDonell worked out a pocket trip for Silent Swing in qualifier nine, and the seven-year-old son of Northern Luck prevailed by a narrow margin thanks in part to a :27.1 final quarter.
The Jean Louis Arsenault pupil, who has banked more than $1.2 million to date, froze the teletimer in 1:53, winning by three-quarters of a length over Blissful Smile, who sizzled home in :26.2 for driver Jody Jamieson and trainer Tony O’Sullivan.
To view Friday’s results, click here.
Pay check Lavic not
Pay check Lavic not mentioned the 2 nd best last year should have some consirdrson.
Harold Wills