There was no shortage of star power during the Friday (May 12) session of qualifiers at Woodbine Mohawk Park with four 2022 O'Brien Award winners making local seasonal debuts.
Only one of those horses had previous qualifying action in 2023, that being 2022 Metro Pace winner Stockade Seelster (pictured above). The Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winner had planned to race at Mohawk on this day, but the 2023 SBOA Stakes did not require eliminations so Stockade Seelster will advance along with 10 other sophomores to the final on Saturday, May 20.
Thus, the connections of Stockade Seelster put the pacer in for a qualifying test on Friday, and he looked as impressive as he did during his award-winning rookie season. With regular pilot Jody Jamieson at the controls, Stockade Seelster sped through panels of :27.4 and :57.1 for the first fractions and then added some extra effort for the back half. The third station was reached in 1:24.4, and the mile was closed in :26.1 to hit the wire nearly eight lengths better than O'Brien Award finalist Ace Of Aces in 1:51.
Owned by Sally & Paul MacDonald, Stockade Seelster (State Treasurer - Soiree Seelster) boasts a summary of 8-0-2 from 11 freshman starts with $917,470 in earnings. Dr. Ian Moore is the colt's trainer, like he was for the colt's sire.
The remaining trio of 2022 O'Brien Award winners came into Friday's session with no 2023 racelines, unlike the aforementioned Stockade Seelster who clocked a pair of impressive miles at Southern Oaks Training Centre.
Sylvia Hanover sat an unstressed third throughout in her first appearance of 2023, pacing in 1:55.2 for driver Bob McClure and trainer Shawn Steacy in a 1:54.1 mile won by Sweet Amira (Louis Philippe Roy). Last year's Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winner as harness racing's top two-year-old pacing filly, Sylvia Hanover sat a well-rated mile in her sophomore debut.
On the trotting side, Gaines Hanover hit the racetrack for a charted mile on Friday. The last time fans of harness racing saw that trotter was in the winner's circle at Mohawk after the colt captured the 2022 Breeders crown. The colt closed impressively for driver Roy and trainer Richard Moreau during the back half of his mile and came up just a nose short of Buckhead Ridge (Doug McNair) in a 1:56.4 effort.
Roy and Moreau also sent out two-time O'Brien winner Fashion Frenzie, Canada's Older Trotter of the Year in 2022. Now five, Fashion Frenzie appeared eager to trot on during his 2023 debut and needed some convincing by Roy to sit a pocket in the early stages. After settling, Fashion Frenzie trotted strongly unasked and finished fourth back two lengths of 1:56.2 winner Renegade Gypsy.
The full video stream is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).