Three-year-old trotting filly Windsong Soprano put in her first charted mile of her sophomore year this morning at Mohawk Racetrack during the qualifying session
, winning her dash for trainer Bob McIntosh in 1:57.2.
“She’s right on schedule,” commented assistant trainer Tracy Wilcox. “She wintered well and matured a bit. That was just about the mile we wanted for her this morning. We’ll go once more, next week, and then we’ll aim her for the Casual Breeze (on Friday, June 12).”
A winner of $345,487 at two, the daughter of Windsongs Legacy captured the Peaceful Way Stakes, a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at the Red Mile, and was second in the Champlain Stakes, before going off-stride and finishing at the back of the pack in the Breeders Crown in November.
Owned by Lothlorien Farms of Cheltenham, Ont., Windsong Soprano stayed out of trouble this morning while several of her compatriots made breaks, cruising in third behind Stonebridge Diva (driven by Randy Waples) and Dutchess Seelster (Trevor Ritchie) before angling out to prevail by two lengths for driver Steve Condren.
Also among McIntosh’s five entries in this morning’s qualifying session was three-year-old pacer Go West Lucky Cam, who had a promising start to his two-year-old season in 2008, winning three of four starts before health problems forced him to be scratched sick from the Champlain Stakes in September and shut him down for the remainder of the season. He paced a confident mile for Condren, but was beaten a head by Lee Ave (Sylvain Filion) in a 1:56.2 mile.
McIntosh’s well-prepared string won three of their five qualifiers this morning. In the first, it was three-year-old pacer Lucky Herb by a nose in 1:55.4 for Condren; in the fourth, sophomore Panjour Monsieur got the job done by five and three-quarter lengths in 1:55.2; and the remaining McIntosh charge, trotting colt Dr Cal, was third in his qualifier to Mr Escadar, driven by Roger Mayotte for trainer Chris Beaver in 1:59.1.
The final qualifier of the morning was won by Tony Montini trainee Misterizi, which trotted home 17 lengths ahead of his nearest rival to stop the timers in 1:56.1 for Rick Zeron. Misterizi, a six-year-old son of Mr Lavec, is freshly home from a May stint at the Meadowlands, where he took a stab at the Classic series, the A.J. Cutler, and the Su Mac Lad.
Click here to view the charted lines.
(With files from WEG)