A pair of Luc Blais trainees swept the $25,000 SBOA Stakes eliminations for the three-year-old open trot division at Woodbine Mohawk Park on an action-packed Saturday, May 10.
Louis-Philippe Roy drove the Determination-owned Day and Lookatmegoamigo to victories in their respective eliminations, with the top five finishers from each race also advancing to the divisional stakes final scheduled for next Saturday, May 17.
Day (pictured above) lowered his lifetime mark to 1:54.1 in his season's debut, trotting home in :26.4 off final-turn cover to prevail by less than a length over fellow closer Galen Erso (Doug McNair), Cousin Halifax (Travis Cullen) and Artful Dodger (James MacDonald). Fast Snap (Paul Davies) edged out two others for the last spot in the final, including 3-2 favourite Rising Interest (Tyler Borth), who was parked through most of a :57.1 half before landing on top as the race's third leader through three-quarters in 1:26.3 then giving it up as he drifted across the track down the stretch.
Day, a smart homebred son of Wheeling N Dealin out of Ontario Sires Stakes divisional champion On A Sunny Day, was a Grassroots winner during his six-start rookie season.
Sent postward as the 8-1 fourth choice, Day returned $18 for the mild upset.
Making his second seasonal start, Lookatmegoamigo also took a new career mark of 1:54.2 as he completed the sweep of the eliminations for his stable. Roy looped the early :28.4 leader then found himself back in the pocket when 6-5 favourite Getthegreen (James MacDonald) took over for middle splits of :57.2 and 1:26.1, but Lookatmegoamigo collared that rival in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length. Chicago Hall (Jody Jamieson) advanced from the backfield to finish third, three lengths back, while first-quarter leader Call Me Parker (Tyler Borth) finished fourth and Flanagan Sunshine (Phil Hudon) completed the top five in the field with one breaker and a scratch.
A multiple stakes-placed and six-figure earning two-year-old, the talented but "tricky" Muscle Mass-Lady Bling colt has now won two of his 12 career starts.
Lookatmegoamigo returned $10.50 to win as the 4-1 third choice.
In this week's Preferred action at Mohawk, Caviar N Crackers ($12.70) was a repeat upset winner in the top $36,000 distaff pace for driver Ed Hensley and trainer Ashleigh Hensley, getting up in time for the 1:52 triumph after a :26 final-quarter sprint from third-over. Owned by the Hensleys, the five-year-old Captive Audience-Crackers Hot Shot mare defeated even-money favourite Century Jamila (Bob McClure), who had set fractions of :27.2, :57 and 1:25.1 before coming up a half-length short. Odds On Platinum (Louis-Philippe Roy), the 2-1 second choice, shook loose late from the pocket and was a charging third.
Trained by Gregg McNair and driven by his son Doug, O'Brien Award divisional champion Taurasi ($8.90) was a front-end winner in the $28,000 Preferred 2 Pace, leading through panels of :27, :55.1 and 1:23.1 and fighting off Fortify (Louis-Philippe Roy) and the late pylon-skimming Odds On Capitalism (James MacDonald), a pair of Rene Bourassa trainees, in a 1:50.1 mile. The six-year-old Racing Hill-Voluminous gelding is now a 25-time career winner with more than $745,000 banked for owners Brad Grant and Alagna Racing.
With a 1:49 score in a $24,000 conditioned/optional claiming pace, the Jodie Cullen-trained five-year-old pacer Pacino Hanover ($8.10) became the fastest winner in Canada this year in rein to Travis Cullen, who co-owns the son American Ideal out of Perfect Touch with his father Ron and partner Paul Sanders. After tracking in third through fractions of :27.1, :54.2 and 1:22.2, Pacino Hanover overtook 1-2 favourite No Control (Jody Jamieson) and Nazare (Tyler Borth) with a :26 closing kick. A Preferred winner early this year, the new national season's record holder is now two-for-12 in 2025 and surpassed a quarter of a million dollars in lifetime earnings with his 14th career win.
This month's Pop-Up Series continued on Saturday night with the second round of a conditioned event for male pacers. Carmen Auciello trainee Century Inspector ($7.70) earned his second straight victory in the prelims in rein to Jody Jamieson with a 1:50.3 career-best effort while the Duane Marfisi stable's Seriously Hanover ($4.80) and James MacDonald held off Auciello's other first-leg winner Larceny by half a length to win a $15,000 division in 1:51.
This Pop-Up Series is for male pacers that were non-winners of $20,000 or not averaging $1,700 per start in 2025 in a minimum of eight starts. The $25,000 final will be held next Saturday, May 17.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
(Standardbred Canada)