The initial qualifier from 2018 O'Brien Award winner Run Director wasn't all that impressive, but the four-year-old showed that award-winning form in his second appearance of the season during the qualifying session on Friday (May 24) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
With regular pilot Sylvain Filion at the controls, Run Director sat in the loose pocket behind Cruisin In Style (Jody Jamieson) through a :27.4 opening quarter before making a move for the top. Run Director was out and driving through a :57 half and he landed on top just after that half-mile marker. Filion asked for the tempo to pick up, and Run Director responded to hit the third quarter in 1:25.3 with a two-length advantage. A subsequent :28.3 final quarter enabled Run Director to widen his margin to three lengths and trip the timer in 1:54.1 -- nearly five full seconds better than his effort one week ago.
Run Director (Kadabra - Keep The Spirit) won six of 17 sophomore starts and amassed $436,005 in earnings for his breeder-owners Tom & Elizabeth Rankin of St. Catharines, Ont. Ben Baillargeon has resumed conditioning duties after being brought back to the races by Shane Weber.
Another noteworthy performer making a statement in the Friday morning qualifying session was open class regular Witch Dali, making her first on-track appearance in nearly six months.
Driver Louis-Philippe Roy settled the eight-year-old pacing mare away in third as Krushed Apple (Filion) powered through panels of :28.3, :57 and 1:25.3 on the front end. In the stretch, both pocket-sitting Action Majesty (Trevor Henry) and Witch Dali angled out for the drive but Witch Dali had the most pace heading for the wire. A :27.4 final stanza helped Witch Dali best her qualifying rivals and stop the clock in 1:54.1.
Brad Grant of Milton, Ont. owns Witch Dali (Dali - Whitesand Gem) a 31-time winner with more than $633,000 in earnings. Richard Moreau handles the training.
For the charts from Friday's qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).