Although the 2009 O'Brien Award and Metro Pace winner Sportswriter qualified last week in 1:56, the Artsplace colt did not go in the speed range in which trainer Casie Coleman was looking for
. Under ideal conditions today at Mohawk Racetrack with driver Mark MacDonald in the racebike, the colt dropped a significant amount of time in victory.
Sportswriter contested the eighth dash of the nine-race Mohawk qualifying session. The World Record holder started from Post 6 and was on top by five lengths at the 28-second opening quarter pole. Getting another 28-second quarter into his mount, MacDonald had Sportswriter at the opening half in :56, a full 10 lengths up on his closest foe. The lead was 15 lengths by the time MacDonald got his charge to the three quarters in 1:23.3. Completing a :55.4 back half, MacDonald and Sportswriter hit the wire 15 lengths the best in 1:51.4.
"Yeah, he was good. It was a good mile this morning," driver Mark MacDonald said afterward during an interview with Greg Blanchard of the Woodbine Entertainment Group. "The track was a little dead. [He paced his mile] all by himself. He had lots in the tank. He's a great horse and he's going to have a big year."
Blanchard then asked MacDonald if it was a good thing this week that Sportswriter didn't drift out at all in the stretch, as he had been raced in outer lanes coming home during the past couple qualifiers.
"Yeah, it was (a good thing)," said MacDonald. "Actually, the first time I went with him he wasn't bad. I had sat him out. It was a little deep along the rail and he was in a later qualifier, so we kind of had him positioned out in the two-wide lane the first time, but he was drifting a little bit. But they work hard on him. Michel Turgeon is his groom and he does a great job -- he works all day on him, of course, so whatever little problem that he [Sportswriter] may have had, he [Turgeon] had him good today."
In regard to where Sportswriter should go from here, MacDonald concurred that the colt is ready to make his 2010 pari-mutuel debut.
"Yeah, for sure. He's just like any three-year-old coming back: you have to stretch him out little and then get him in to go [against] some competition. He just needs to be in a race now, and I think he'll show people what kind of a horse he is then."
A winner of seven of eight races in 2009 and $875,411 in purses, Sportswriter has been installed as the 3-1 favourite in Trot Magazine’s 2010 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.
Coleman told Trot Insider afterward that she was pleased with Sportswriter's effort this morning and that he is ready to make his 2010 pari-mutuel debut.
“He qualified awesome, he couldn’t have been any better,” Coleman told Trot Insider. “I told Mark to go a mile in 1:52 with him today, and he wasn’t far off. Mark said he was 110 per cent today and he couldn’t have been any better. It wasn’t the horse’s fault last week. Last week he sat in the two-hole through slow fractions and then he flew home. He was supposed to go a mile in 1:53, but things got messed up because of the slow fractions. Our plan is to go to the Hoosier Cup next Saturday (May 29) at Hoosier Park.”
The Mohawk qualifying session kicked off in Race 1 with the return of 2010 Damsel Pacing Series winner Cats Meow, who put in her first charted mile since capturing the Damsel title in late March. The four-year-old Goliath Bayama mare left from Post 6 with driver Bill O'Donnell and made every call a winning one for trainer Dr. John Hayes. She cut the fractions in :29.2, :57.2 and 1:26.1 and stopped the clock in 1:54.1, more than five lengths faster than her closest rival.
Race 2 was the scene of the 2010 charted debut of Yursa Hanover for trainer Ben Baillargeon and driver Mario Baillargeon. After leaving from Post 3, the four-year-old Windsongs Legacy mare sat fifth throughout the majority of the mile and came home late to finish third, trotting her mile in 1:58.2. Yursa Hanover finished three and a quarter lengths in arrears of the winner, the $932,000 earner Chick N Tell, who trotted in 1:57.4 for driver Jody Jamieson and trainer Stephen Doyle.
Mohawk's third race saw the return of hard-knocking older pacing horse Dali for trainer Rene Allard and driver Luc Ouellette. The five-year-old Real Artist horse won the 2010 edition of the Spring Pacing Championship in early April, but has not raced pari-mutuelly since. After starting from Post 5 this morning, Dali went to the top early and went wire to wire in a sharp 1:51.4. The fractions were cut in :28, :56.3 and 1:24 before Dali came home to win by over seven lengths.
Six-year-old gelding Before He Cheats put in his second qualifying mile of the season for trainer Kevin O'Reilly and driver Trevor Ritchie in Race 4. The son of Valley Victor, who last raced pari-mutuelly July 25, 2009, left from Post 4 this morning and went wire to wire. He trotted off to a five and a half-length win in 1:55.4.
To view the results for the Mohawk qualifying session, click here.
The Meadowlands Racetrack also hosted its weekly qualifying session this morning, as eight races went behind the gate
Race 2 featured a pair of three-year-old trotting colts that are being pointed toward the Hambletonian, Break The Bank K and Pilgrims Taj, both of which made their second qualifying efforts of the year this morning.
Driven by his trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer, Revenue S colt Break The Bank K left from Post 1 and sat fourth through the first three quarters of the mile before coming on late. Via a :27.3 final quarter-mile, Break The Bank K trotted off to a two and a quarter-length win in 1:55.1.
The Monte Gelrod-trained and Mike Lachance-driven Broadway Hall colt Pilgrims Taj left from Post 2 in Race 2 and was third through the first three quarters of the mile. The colt would go on to break stride in the lane. The colt finished fifth, was beaten double-digit lengths and trotted in 1:58.3.
Race 3 saw trainer Jimmy Takter and driver Ron Pierce hook up with Costa Rica for the Muscles Yankee filly's fourth qualifying effort of the year. After starting from the rail, Pierce and his mount made every call a winning one, as they cut the fractions in :29, 1:00 and 1:29.3 and held on for a neck win in 1:58.
To view the results for the Meadowlands' qualifying session, click here.